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Does Exercise Really Make Us Smarter?

By Gretchen Reynolds

November 19, 2014 12:01 am

Exerciseseemstobegoodforthehumanbrain,withmanyrecentstudies
suggestingthatregularexerciseimprovesmemoryandthinkingskills.Butan
interestingnewstudyaskswhethertheapparentcognitivebenefitsfrom
exercisearerealorjustaplaceboeffectthatis,ifwethinkwewillbe
smarterafterexercise,doourbrainsrespondaccordingly?Theanswerhas
significantimplicationsforanyofushopingtouseexercisetokeepourminds
sharpthroughoutourlives.
Inexperimentalscience,thebest,mostreliablestudiesrandomlydivide
participantsintotwogroups,oneofwhichreceivesthedrugorothertreatment
beingstudiedandtheotherofwhichisgivenaplacebo,similarinappearance
tothedrug,butnotcontainingtheactiveingredient.
Placebosareimportant,becausetheyhelpscientiststocontrolfor
peoplesexpectations.Ifpeoplebelievethatadrug,forexample,willleadto
certainoutcomes,theirbodiesmayproducethoseresults,evenifthe
volunteersaretakingalookalikedummypill.Thatstheplaceboeffect,andits
occurrencesuggeststhatthedrugorprocedureunderconsiderationisntas
effectiveasitmightseemtobesomeoftheworkisbeingdonebypeoples

expectations,notbythemedicine.
Recently,somescientistshavebeguntoquestionwhethertheapparently
beneficialeffectsofexerciseonthinkingmightbeaplaceboeffect.Whilemany
studiessuggestthatexercisemayhavecognitivebenefits,thoseexperiments
allhavehadanotablescientificlimitation:Theyhavenotusedplacebos.
Thisissueisnotsomeabstrusescientificdebate.Ifthecognitivebenefits
fromexercisearearesultofaplaceboeffectratherthanofactualchangesin
thebrainbecauseoftheexercise,thenthosebenefitscouldbeephemeraland
unableinthelongtermtohelpusrememberhowtospellephemeral.
Studyingthisissue,however,isdifficult.Thereisnoplaceboforexercise
andnowaytoblindpeopleaboutwhethertheyareexercising.Theyknowif
theyarewalkingorcyclingornot.
SoresearchersatFloridaStateUniversityinTallahasseeandthe
UniversityofIllinoisatUrbanaChampaigncameupwithaclever
workaround.Theydecidedtofocusonexpectations,onwhatpeopleanticipate
thatexercisewilldoforthinking.Ifpeoplesexpectationsjibecloselywiththe
actualbenefits,thenatleastsomeofthoseimprovementsareprobablyaresult
oftheplaceboeffectandnotofexercise.
Thescientistshadseenthissituationatworkduringanearlierstudyof
videogamesandcognition.Pastresearchhadsuggestedthatplayingaction
orientedvideogamesimprovesplayerssubsequentthinkingskills.Butwhen
scientistsinthenewstudyaskedvideogameplayerstoestimatebyhowmuch
thegameswouldimprovetheirthinking,theplayersestimatesalmostexactly
matchedthegainsseenoncognitivetestsafterplaying.Inotherwords,the
cognitivebenefitsofplayingvideogamesappeartobelargelyaresultofa
placeboeffect.
Forthenewstudy,whichwaspublishedlastmonthinPLOSOne,the
researchersrepeatedthisexperimentbutfocusedonexercise.Recruiting171

peoplethroughanonlinesurveysystem,theyaskedhalfofthesevolunteersto
estimatebyhowmuchastretchingandtoningprogramperformedthreetimes
aweekmightimprovevariousmeasuresofthinking,includingmemoryand
mentalmultitasking.
Theothervolunteerswereaskedthesamequestions,butaboutaregular
walkingprogram.
Inactualexperiments,stretchingandtoningregimensgenerallyhave
littleifanyimpactonpeoplescognitiveskills.Walking,ontheotherhand,
seemstosubstantiallyimprovethinkingability.
Butthesurveyrespondentsbelievedtheopposite,estimatingthatthe
stretchingandtoningprogramwouldbemorebeneficialforthemindthan
walking.Thevolunteersestimatesofthelikelycognitiveimprovementsfrom
gentletoningaveragedaboutathreeonascalefromonetosix.Theestimates
ofbenefitsfromwalkingwerelower.
Thesedata,whiletheydonotinvolveanyactualexercise,aregoodnews
forpeoplewhodoexercise.Theresultsfromourstudysuggestthatthe
benefitsofaerobicexercisearenotaplaceboeffect,saidCaryStothart,a
graduatestudentincognitivepsychologyatFloridaStateUniversity,wholed
thestudy.
Ifexpectationshadbeendrivingtheimprovementsincognitionseenin
studiesafterexercise,Mr.Stothartsaid,thenpeopleshouldhaveexpected
walkingtobemorebeneficialforthinkingthanstretching.Theydidnt,
implyingthatthechangesinthebrainandthinkingafterexerciseare
physiologicallygenuine.
Ofcourse,thisstudywassmallandinvolvedaselfselectedgroupof
peoplewhohappentolikecompletingonlinesurveys.Somesaidthey
exercised,otherssaidtheydidnot.Noneclaimedtobefamiliarwiththe
sciencerelatedtoexerciseandthebrain,butitisimpossibletoknowifpeople

werebeingforthright.
Still,thefindingsarestrongenoughtosuggestthatexercisereallydoes
changethebrainandmay,intheprocess,improvethinking,Mr.Stothartsaid.
Thatconclusionshouldencouragescientiststolookevenmorecloselyinto
how,atamolecularlevel,exerciseremodelsthehumanbrain,hesaid.Italso
shouldspurtherestofustomove,sincethebenefitsare,itseems,not
imaginary,eveniftheyareinourhead.
A version of this article appears in print on 11/25/2014, on page D6 of the NewYork
edition with the headline: A New Placebo for Exercise.

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