Exercise During Pregnancy May Benefit Baby's Brain

German researchers are attempting to find out whether exercise during pregnancy can help make a woman's child smarter. In laboratory tests on mice, scientists at the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin compared brain development in mice born to mothers who regularly used an exercise wheel with mice born mothers who were more sedentary. Although pups born to active mothers had slower brain development prior to birth, by seven weeks of age they were found to have 40% more brain cells in the hippocampus area (the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory) than the comparison group. While the intelligence of the mice was not examined, researchers said the study offered enough evidence to warrant a similar study in humans.
Source: Scott Allen
Boston.com

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