Synopsis And Summary: The New York Times By Gretchen Reynolds

Synopsis and Summary In this article from The New York Times, Gretchen Reynolds talks about the relationship between exercise and dancing, relating to the white matter in our brains. The University of Illinois gathered 147 volunteers, both men and women and gave them tests for their cognitive abilities and reaction time, along with taking an in-depth MRI. Over a six-month span, the people were broken up into three different groups, each group doing different activities, but doing them for an hour, three times a week. The three exercises that were chosen were, brisk walking, stretching and balance training, and intricate country dancing. Those who were in the dancing group saw an increase in their white matter, while the other two groups experienced a slight decrease. The conclusion overall was that exercise has a positive impact on your brain and white matter in later years.
General Theme I felt that Reynold’s overall theme for this article about exercise is positive.
I believe that she could add to more reasons why exercise is important for our bodies and why even into old age that being active promotes good health. Reynold’s touched on subjects like cognitive loss, slower motor function and the decline in the overall white matter as people age. I believe that the theme of exercise to promote a great white matter in our brain is important because those who live sedentary lifestyles are likely to see a great decline and more rapid.
Point of View I believe that this article by Reynold’s was written based on facts from the University of Illinois. Not only did Reynold’s include the procedure of the study, but she also provided the results of the volunteers. Because this article was based on a study and the details that went into it, that this article was purely created on the science based facts that came out of the University’s study of the 147 people.
Issue Analysis
• Loss of white matter with age
• Decreased cognitive
ability
• Lack of exercise or sedentary lifestyles
• The loss of white matter leads to issues thinking and remembering
Conclusions and Recommendations
• Cognitive demands of dancing affect the biochemistry of the brain tissue
• Dancing also prompted the increase in thickness and quantity of the wiring in the fornix
• Because of the exercise the volunteer’s cognitive performance was better
• Socialize and exercise increases mental abilities
Agreement or Disagreement Based on the conclusions that Reynold’s came up with, I do agree with her. I believe that exercise should be introduced to everyone’s day-to-day lives. However, I do understand that not everyone will be able exercise the same ways, but even the slightest arm movement or the tiniest weight lifting will help them be healthier. I also believe that dancing is probably something the elderly population enjoyed as young adults, so introducing that back into their lives as exercise will not only get them moving and exercising. Then by doing something that the people enjoy it will promote happiness. I think when people do something they enjoy they get more out of it and they are more likely to do it again.
Professional Projections After reading this article by Reynold’s I believe that I will be able to promote more reasons to exercise in my professional career. This article gave me the reasons like, thought processing and your brains abilities as more ways to promote a healthy active lifestyle that will benefit patients in the long run. Not only am I able to apply this to a professional setting, but it can become a living for myself, which would allow me to talk from experience instead of just what I read in an article once. This article has given me a reason to better myself to be an example for people that I will work with in the future to promote dancing as exercise and exercise in general. Not only is exercise important for one’s health, but it also gives off a feeling of euphoria, it allows you to focus better, it is a way for you to work off stress. Living by what I learned here will allow me to maintain my processing abilities. Not only that, but it will also give me the abilities to do better with studying, test taking, etc. because I will can focus better. Also, the information that Reynold’s provided in her article will further allow me to increase my knowledge of the human body. Before this article I was not aware that the body respond so importantly to exercise, except for the heart and related diseases.