Exercise Makes You More Sensitive to the World Around You

By now you’re well aware of all the physical benefits that come from regular exercise, maybe even some of the psychological and cognitive benefits as well, but did you know that exercise can help make you more sensitive to the world around you as well? The findings come courtesy of Tom Bullock, a postdoc at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Barry Giesbrecht, a professor of psychology and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The duo work in one of the few labs in the country that have managed to measure the effects of aerobic activity on the visual cortex during exercise. The work wasn’t particularly easy to do. Bullock, in fact, says it took him four years to figure out how to consistently and reliably record an EEG while a subject is in motion.

The visual cortex helps focus and key in on specific features within our environment, the kind of features that would help warn us if there was a predator or prey in our vicinity, all while filtering out less important background details. Bullock and Giesbrecht found that low-intensity cycling boosted this feature-selectivity ability, meaning the brains of test subjects were better able to identify these key features while they were exercising.

You may not be out on the hunt for prey, or trying to hide from a predator while out for some leisurely cycling, but there’s little doubt you’ll be able to see more clearly while exercising, one of the many boosts exercise offers to the brain.

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