Are you preparing for a big test? If so, you may want to play some basketball in between hitting the books. Doctors are starting to find more and more information that suggests a connection between exercise and brain development. Judy Cameron, a scientist at Oregon Health and Oregon Health and Science University, studies brain development. According to her research, it seems that exercise can make blood vessels , including those in the brain, stronger and more fully developed. Dr. Cameron claims this allows people who exercise to concentrate better. As she says, "While we already know that exercise is good for the heart, exercise can really cause physical changes in the brain."

The effects of exercise on brain development can even be seen in babies. Babies who do activities that require a lot of movement and physical activity show greater brain development than babies who are less physically active. With babies, even a little movement can show big results. Margaret Barnes, a pediatrician , believes in the importance of exercise. She thinks that many learning disabilities that children have in elementary school or high school can be traced back to a lack of movement as babies. "Babies need movement that stimulates their five senses. They need to establish a connection between motion and memory. In this way, as they get older, children will begin to associate physical activity with higher learning," says Margaret.

Older people can beef up their brains as well. Scientists from 11 universities studied a group of seniors ranging in age from seventy to seventy-nine. Their study showed a short-term memory increase of up to 40 percent after exercising just three hours a week. The exercise does not have to be very difficult, but it does have to increase the heart rate. Also, just like the motion for infants , exercise for older people should involve some complexity. Learning some new skills or motions, such as with yoga or tai-chi, helps to open up memory paths in the brain that may not have been used for a long time.

For most people, any type of physical activity that increases the heart rate is helpful. The main goal is to increase the brain's flow of blood. And your brain can benefit from as little as three hours of exercise a week.

1. Can old farts beef up their brains?
2. Who studied a group of seniors?
3. Were they all from the same university?
4. How many difference schools were involved?
5. How old were the greyhairs they studied?
6. What could short-term memory increase up to?
7. What did they seniors need to do?
8. How many hours?
9. Daily or weekly?
10. Does the exercise have to be arduous?
11. What does it need to increase, though?
12. Should learning be simpler or more complex?
13. What's a new skill or motion that might help them?
14. What's another?

Numbered answers:
1. Yes
2. Scientists
3. No
4. 11
5. seventy to seventy-nine
6. 40 percent
7. exercise
8. three
9. weekly
10. No
11. heart rate
12. More complex
13. yoga
14. tai-chi