Whether or not you are an athletic and athletic person could be linked to the size of certain areas of your brain, according to a University of California study coordinated by Tehodore Garland. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging to analyze the brains of rodents reared for generations to select those "exercise lovers", the researchers observed that their midbrain was 13% larger than normal . In this area of the brain reside the control centers of the motor, auditory and visual systems. In addition, it is essential for rewarding learning and motivation.
"We are facing the first evidence that selecting a behavior in mammals – in this case the predisposition of rodents to dedicate themselves to running voluntarily on a wheel for several hours a day – leads to a change in the size of a brain structure" Garland, who has released his findings in The Journal of Experimental Biology .
Regarding the implications for humans, the authors argue that it is possible that individual differences in predisposition towards exercise may be related to the size of the midbrain , and even that the volume of this area may be inherited from parents to children , although more specific studies would have to be carried out to draw conclusions.
