Studies Showing the Benefits of Exercise

Scientists are also encouraged by studies on mice with a certain genetic mutation that makes them age prematurely — complete with graying and thinning fur, cataracts, hearing loss, smaller brains, enlarged hearts, anemia and thin and weak muscles — hallmark symptoms of growing older. To test whether it was possible to slow or reverse the process in these mice, a team led by Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky, a professor of pediatrics and medicine at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, had the ro...

 Breast Feeding Fuels Big Brains

The study looked at the average pregnancy term, breast-feeding length and brain size of 128 species of mammals. They saw that between different species brain size at birth was determined by the length of pregnancy, while the brain growth after birth was determined by breast-feeding duration. [...] The extreme length of pregnancy and breast-feeding in humans (nine months and three years, respectively) is required for the growth and development of our large brains, which can reach 79 cubic in...