A great workout boosts our brain in a number of ways. One of the better effects of exercise is the fact that it helps to increase the amount of brain derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF. This protein promotes the health and growth of new neurons, an essential element in learning and mental sharpness.

What’s more of a question is which type of exercise is the best for eliciting these types of results. When it comes to the body, there is a clear difference between cardio and strength training, one predominantly builds muscle while the other tones and trims fat. Are there similar differences when it comes to the brain? The New York Times is Exploring the answer:

So for the new study, which was published this month in the Journal of Physiology, researchers at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland and other institutions gathered a large group of adult male rats. The researchers injected the rats with a substance that marks new brain cells and then set groups of them to an array of different workouts, with one group remaining sedentary to serve as controls.

Those rats that had jogged on wheels showed robust levels of neurogenesis. Their hippocampal tissue teemed with new neurons, far more than in the brains of the sedentary animals. The greater the distance that a runner had covered during the experiment, the more new cells its brain now contained.

It’s important to keep in mind that the study was performed on rats, trials on people are yet to begin. However, that’s one tick for cardio. To find out how high intensity interval training and weight training scored, you’ll need to check out the full post.

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