Does Exercise during Pregnancy Boost a New Born's Brain Capacity?

A new study shows that pregnant women who regularly exercise throughout their pregnancy tend to have babies that show better mental performance. Many researchers believe this shows long-term mental effects regarding the mental activity of children in the womb. In fact, as little as 20 minutes of moderate exercise on a weekly basis may be all that's needed.

"We know exercise is good for all kinds of things in pregnancy. It makes mothers feel better, gives them more control over their weight gain, and also has an impact on their child's weight gain in life. We're saying here's an added bonus, that exercise gives your child a head-start in brain development," said Elise Labonte-LeMoyne at the University of Montreal.

Researchers recruited pregnant women who were in their first trimester using randomized sampling. Ten women were asked to do moderate exercise per week, including cycling, walking, running or swimming. The rest of the women did not exercise and maintained a sedentary lifestyle.

After the women gave birth, researchers measured the brain activities of their babies between 8 and 12 days after birth. Assessments were conducted while the babies were sleeping. They played music to make them fall asleep and observed how their brains reacted on different sounds. Researchers found that those who were born by women who exercised were more reactive to the sounds.

"This is important to look at, at this stage in their development, because the ability to discriminate sounds is the basis of learning to speak and to understand the sounds around you," Labonte-LeMoyne said.

The study was presented during the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience held in San Diego, Calif.