Lessons learned from giving mice cookies, swanky houses, and other things.
Picture a swanky mouse house, fancy little igloo sleeping spaces, bright colors, nibble-able blocks, mirrors and seesaws. Then add food dusted with cinnamon and flavored water to wash it down. What a great life! All created for mice!
Well, created for the mice in the study referred to in a New York Times article.
- 1/4 had swanky quarters only
- 1/4 had swanky quarters AND a fancy running wheel for exercise
- 1/4 of the mice lived in basic houses with dull food
- 1/4 had dull food and living but added a running wheel.
The point was to find out which mice had better brainpower. Does exercising your mind, such as a child playing with fancy toys, grow brain cells? Or does exercise play a part?
The study found that the super swanky quarters don’t grow your brain or your brainpower, even if you are stimulated by where you live. But if you live in a dump with a running wheel and you use it, you will grow your little mouse brain!!!
Just thinking about the swanky quarters makes me laugh. Picture it….really.
…but, if doing studies like this convinces people to get moving, to increase the health of their heart AND their brain, it’s worth it.