The famous Roman quote Mens sana in corpore sana already has a scientific foundation. Researchers from the University of Granada have shown that staying in good physical shape is related to a better functioning of the central nervous system and the autonomic nervous system .
According to the study, which is published in the journal Plos One and which is based on a group of young people, half of them members of a cycling club, people who regularly practice sports have better cognitive performance than those who have sedentary lifestyle habits. Specifically, the data from this research indicate that people who stay in shape are capable of maintaining sustained attention when they perform a task, also reacting more quickly than those who are in poor physical condition to an external stimulus presented in an unpredictable way. in a monotonous task.
It had previously been shown that sport prevents neurodegeneration, in addition to promoting neurogenesis and the growth of blood capillaries in areas such as the hippocampus, cortex, cerebellum and basal ganglia.
