Thursday, March 16, 2006

The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner

I guess this means I can stop getting up at 5:30 a.m. and running, eh?

Via HealthDay:

"Many runners contend that jogging alone offers the opportunity to enjoy nature or appreciate an urban landscape, while giving the brain and the body a beneficial workout.

But new research with rats suggests that running solo might not offer the perceived benefits and, in fact, may actually be bad for runners when combined with social isolation.

The scientists behind the study report that mice forced to live and run by themselves have less brain cell growth than those that get to run with other rats."


Apparently, the rats who ran in groups did a better job of generating new neurons than those that ran in isolation. Um, anyone up for a run next week?

1 comment:

typingelbow said...

well, you're not socially isolated, so running alone probably won't slow your brain-cell growth... no more than the bushmill's does anway. :) how far do you run anyway?