Healthy Living Equals Better Brain Function

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It should be obvious that those with greater self-control live a healthier lifestyle. After all, it takes self-control to exercise before work, or forego fried food for kale. But new research suggests living a healthier lifestyle could also increase executive function, which is the ability to exert self-control, set and meet goals, resist temptation and solve problems. In effect, the study suggests a feedback loop exists where greater executive function enables people to lead a healthier lifestyle, which in turn, improves their executive function. The study, published by researchers at the University of Aberdeen, the University of Stirling and the University College Dublin, used data collected from 4,555 adults through the English Longitudinal Study of Aging. Researchers analyzed the relationship between physical activity and executive function, adjusting for other variable such as age, gender, education, wealth and illness and found evidence that the relationship between the two is biodirectional. It is the first study of its kind to look at whether the effects are bidirectional and has expanded the understanding of such relationships. Click here to read more.

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