KEY 2 EXERCISE You've got to move it, move it
In the first key, we compared your brain to a car. Now if you have any fondness for F1, you will be aware that there aren't many overweight drivers squeezing themselves into the cockpit of a McLaren or Ferrari to roar around a Grand Prix circuit. If they were carrying much excess flesh, first, they wouldn't fit, but second, the stress on their bodies would compromise their ability to make high-performance decisions in a split second. Lewis Hamilton gained the nickname of ‘Chubby’ when he was not doing so well in the rankings. Coincidence?
There's one thing that every future brain needs. The research shows it to make by far the biggest impact on our cognition, mental flexibility, memory, mood and wellbeing. It's so powerful, nothing comes close to offering the benefits it provides.
It's the one thing pharmaceutical companies would love to get their hands on and patent, because they would become instant squillionaires. They can't, though, because it can never be produced as a potion or a pill. You can't rub it on or take it as a supplement. But it does need to be taken daily.
What is it?
You've probably guessed. It's called exercise.
Yes, good old-fashioned exercise, the physical sort, has been shown to help optimise how well your brain works for you by strengthening existing neural networks, promoting neuroplasticity (the production of new synaptic connections) and neurogenesis (the production of new neurons).
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