Is Solo Running Bad For Your Brain?

We all know running can be more enjoyable in groups. You meet new people, learn new routes, have others to motivate you and even run faster! But is running in a group actually healthier for your body? Read below and see what you think! Very interesting.... Solo running 'few brain benefits'

Running with someone else may be better for you If you are a lonely long-distance runner, exercise may not be doing your brain much good, scientists suggest. Many people find it hard to maintain an exercise schedule on their own - and a rat study may explain why. Researchers from Princeton University in the US say exercising with others is better for the brain. Writing in Nature Neuroscience, they suggest social contact negates the negative effects exercise can have on activity in the brain.   In the absence of social  interaction, a normally beneficial experience can exert a potentially deleterious influence on the brain Dr Elizabeth Gould, Princeton University Running is known to increase levels of stress hormone corticosterone, which can reduce the creation of new brain cells - a process known as neurogenesis. But the activity has also been found to increase spatial awareness and to boost communication between neurons. Vulnerable The researchers in this study looked to see what factors might explain this apparent anomaly. They looked at the effects of running on adult rats who were in groups or on their own. Running was found to increase neuron generation only when rats were housed in groups. In rats that ran in social isolation, neurogenesis was suppressed. Running caused similar elevations of the stress hormone - which can impair neuron generation - in both groups. But only animals that ran alone were vulnerable to its negative influence. They also had higher levels of the hormone compared to group runners. When isolated rats ran for a long time, they did see the same brain benefits as their short-term runner peers - but only when they had been running for a much longer period. Writing in Nature Neuroscience, the researchers led by Dr Elizabeth Gould, say: "In the absence of social interaction, a normally beneficial experience can exert a potentially deleterious influence on the brain." The research comes after previous studies recommended exercising as key to reducing the risk of developing dementia. Source - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4793158.stm