This is the title of a very interesting article in the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/how-exercise-could-lead-to-a-better-brain.html?src=me&ref=general
But you have to read this and similar articles with due care and attention, in other words you have to have a brain of sorts in the first place. The general thrust of this article was to the effect that physical exercise is actually better than mental exercise for improving or preserving your mental state, so I was rather surprised to read the following phrase tucked away in the middle:
"Exercise though seems slow to reverse the brain’s physical decay..."
On reading these words, my first reaction was one of disappointment: so all those brisk, bracing walks were to no avail after all? Was there no alternative to those ghastly games of scrabble?
My second reaction, much later in the day, was to say to myself half-heartedly: "Just a minute, I thought this article was supposed to extol the virtues of physical exercise, not to downplay them. Surely, the writer came to praise PE, not to bury it?" What sort of writer could so blatantly contradict herself in the middle of her argument? A Letter to the Editor seemed more than called for.
Just before I summoned the energy to write the letter, however, I thought I'd better read through the text again - just to be on the safe side. This is what I read:
"Exercise though seems to slow or reverse the brain’s physical decay..."
But you have to read this and similar articles with due care and attention, in other words you have to have a brain of sorts in the first place. The general thrust of this article was to the effect that physical exercise is actually better than mental exercise for improving or preserving your mental state, so I was rather surprised to read the following phrase tucked away in the middle:
"Exercise though seems slow to reverse the brain’s physical decay..."
On reading these words, my first reaction was one of disappointment: so all those brisk, bracing walks were to no avail after all? Was there no alternative to those ghastly games of scrabble?
My second reaction, much later in the day, was to say to myself half-heartedly: "Just a minute, I thought this article was supposed to extol the virtues of physical exercise, not to downplay them. Surely, the writer came to praise PE, not to bury it?" What sort of writer could so blatantly contradict herself in the middle of her argument? A Letter to the Editor seemed more than called for.
Just before I summoned the energy to write the letter, however, I thought I'd better read through the text again - just to be on the safe side. This is what I read:
"Exercise though seems to slow or reverse the brain’s physical decay..."
Quite a revelation.
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