Benefits of Cognitive and Physical Exercise

"The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not" -Mark Twain      

            After a long day at work or school or in some instances both it is natural to want to go home and just relax.  Lay down and watch TV, or simply go to sleep and throughout this hectic day it is so much easier and faster to pick up some fast food instead of having a good healthy sit down meal.  I myself am guilty of both things mentioned.  It seems to me that it is so much more difficult and more expensive for us to stay healthy.  For example, when we do go get our 'fast-food' there is the healthy option of a salad, but the salad alone is six dollars while a burger, fries, and a drink is also six dollars or less.

            What I am getting at are the benefits of cognitive and physical exercise.  In the long run I am going to wish I had exercised after school or work.  I am also going to wish I had ordered the salad instead of that delicious cheap burger.  Studies have shown that, "individuals who are cognitively and physically active are less likely to contract neurological disorders; and if they do, their symptoms tend to be less severe and their recovery better" (Sarkamo et al., 2008).  However, in such correlational studies there are constantly problems of  understanding.  Do more active people tend to have healthier neurological outcomes because they are indeed active, or are they inclined to be more active since they are less ill?  To answer this question there was an experiment done to study the neurological benefits of animal models of epilepsy, Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Down syndrome and different forms of stroke and traumatic brain damage in an 'enriched environment' which promotes cognitive and physical activity.  The end result was what you probably expected.  A healthier lifestyle may not completely cure, but it does make a big difference in a good way.