Every morning Ravi gives his brain an extra boost. We're not talking about drinking strong cups of coffee or playing one of those mind-training video games advertised all over. “I jump into my stationary bike and cycle for 45 minutes to work,” says Ravi. “When I get to my desk, my brain is at peak activity for a few hours.” After his mental focus comes to a halt later in the day, he starts it with another short spell of cycling to be able to run errands.
Ride, work, ride, repeat. It is a scientifically proven system that describes some unexpected benefits of cycling. In a recent study in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, scientists found that people scored higher on tests of memory, reasoning, and planning after 30 minutes of spinning on a stationary bike than they did before they rode the bike. They also completed the tests faster after pedalling.
Exercise is like a fertilizer for your brain. All those hours spent on exercising your muscles, create rich capillary beds not only in leg and hip muscles, but also in your brain. More blood vessels in your brain and muscles mean more oxygen and nutrients to help them work. When you pedal, you also force more nerve cells to fire. The result: you double or triple the production of these cells-literally building your brain. You also release neurotransmitters (the messengers between your brain cells) so all those cells, new and old, can communicate with each other for better, faster functioning. That's a pretty profound benefit to cyclists.
This kind of growth is especially important with each passing birthday, because as we age, our brains shrink and those connections weaken. Exercise restores and protects the brain cells. Neuroscientists say, “Adults who exercise display sharper memory skills, higher concentration levels, more fluid thinking and greater problem-solving ability than those who are sedentary.”
What are neurotransmitters?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Messengers between brain cells
The passage explains the word in brackets: neurotransmitters are "the messengers between your brain cells", which let old and new cells communicate with each other.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Messengers between the heart and brain — Incorrect. Not mentioned: the passage says they carry messages between brain cells; the passage says nothing about the heart.
Option 3: A type of artificial intelligence — Incorrect. Not mentioned: artificial intelligence is the ability of computers to do tasks that need human thinking. Neurotransmitters are natural chemicals of the body.
Option 4: A type of muscle in our legs — Incorrect. Wrong link: the leg muscles are mentioned for capillary beds, but neurotransmitters work in the brain.