Some research indicates that may well be the case – so don the trainers, grab the crossword and hit the road.

Running and brain activity is a subject I stumbled upon recently in a newspaper article in which the author stated that she felt an increased ability to perform mentally after a daily run.

It struck a chord with me because that slight boost in thinking ability is something that I experience not only after running but following any form of exercise. Of course that could be for several reasons, not least the clarity that exercise can bring as a result of relaxation and the extra feel-good factor it provides due to activity-induced happy hormone production.

The positive effects of exercise on mental health and wellbeing have been well documented over the years.

Joyce Carole Oates, American author and professor of creative writing at Princeton University, encapsulates the stimulation provided by running pretty well: “Running! If there’s any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can’t think of what it might be. In running, the mind flees with the body, the mysterious efflorescence of language seems to pulse in the brain, in rhythm with our feet and the swinging of our arms.”

Regardless of the feel-good factor of running, scientific research does indicate that running or moderate to intense exercise in general can actually make us brainier.

It's been long proven that exercise can combat symptoms of depression through the stimulation of happy hormones in the body such as serotonin, endorphins and oxytocin.

More recent studies have found that exercise or, more specifically, running can literally make our brains bigger by increasing our grey matter.

A collaborative study conducted by scientists at the University of Cambridge and the US National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, found that running mice developed thousands of new brain cells.

Such brain boosting significantly increased the ability of the mice to recall memories, without confusing them – which is, apparently, a crucial skill for cognition and learning.

It appears research has yet to be completed which pinpoints exactly how this comes to be the case but it is believed it may be a result of the increased blood flow to the brain generated by the exercise.

Armed with this new knowledge, I will now step into my trainers and head out the door with an even greater spring in my step despite the discouraging onset of the winter chills.

Maybe it will make me smarter, maybe not. What I do know is that running and exercise certainly helps keep me healthy, happy and ready to deal effectively with the hurdles of everyday life.

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