Jogging In Urban Areas Makes You Dumb [study]

High air pollution affects the brain.

Finally, a study proving that jogging outside during rush hour is dumbest idea ever.

Researchers in Belgium are saying that people who live in the city and exercise outdoors have higher levels of inflammation and score lower on cognitive tests than those who exercise outside in the suburbs.

They took two groups of runners, one who lives in the city, the other who lives in rural areas, and had them run 3 days a week from noon to 1 p.m. over a 12-week period. They then gave them tests to measure their response time and attention span.

MSNBC posted the results saying:

High levels of air pollution in the city prevented participants from gaining exercise-induced cognitive benefits such as brain plasticity (the ability for the brain to change when presented with new knowledge), comprehension, and mental health. The urban group also had significantly higher blood levels of some inflammation markers.

In layman's terms, running outside in urban areas has negative effects on the brain. It is suggested that if you do run, do so in parks with trees. If if you must run in the street, do so after rain and wind, when harmful particles are washed away.

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