Riding motorcycles makes you smarter...Yes, really!

[Gryphon Rider]

Article below by others:

TOKYO (AFP) - Riding motorcycles helps keep drivers young by invigorating their brains, the scientist behind popular "Brain Training" computer software said Wednesday, citing a new scientific study.

"The driver's brain gets activated by riding motorbikes" in part because it requires heightened alertness, Ryuta Kawashima said after his research team and Yamaha Motor conducted a string of experiments involving middle-aged men.

"In a convenient and easy environment, the human mind and body get used to setting the hurdle low," he warned. "Our final conclusion is that riding motorcycles can lead to smart ageing."

Kawashima is the designer of "Brain Training" software, which incorporates quizzes and other games and is available on the Nintendo DS game console under the name "Brain Age" in North America.

A self-professed motorcycle fan, 49-year-old Kawashima cited a new study conducted jointly by Yamaha and Tohoku University, for which he works.

One experiment involved 22 men, all in their 40s and 50s, who held motorcycle licences but had not taken a ride for at least a decade.

They were randomly split into two groups -- one asked to resume riding motorcycles in everyday life for two months, and another that kept using bicycles or cars.

"The group that rode motorbikes posted higher marks in cognitive function tests," Kawashima said.

In one test, which required the men to remember a set of numbers in reverse order, the riders' scores jumped by more than 50 percent in two months, while the non-riders' marks deteriorated slightly, he said.

The riders also said they made fewer mistakes at work and felt happier.

"Mental care is a very big issue in modern society," said Kawashima. "I think we made an interesting stir here as data showed you can improve your mental condition simply by using motorbikes to commute."

http://health.yahoo.com/news/afp/lifestylehealthjapanmotorcycles_20090304110821.html

[Brad]

 

[Daniel Meyer]

And if riding a motorcycle makes you smarter, then imagine what riding a Valkyrie does!

[ricoman]

I knew it!
Now there is a medical reason to ride.
"Where are you going?-Why, I'm going out to get smarter!" Now if we could only get prescriptions for bling.

[Des]

I won't take offense to the article being aimed primarily at MEN  ... and not that any of us need a reason to ride .. but it's certainly is nice to have a justification for our obsessions! 

[Willow]

I won't take offense to the article being aimed primarily at MEN  ...

Really, Pamela, we all know that motorcycling is primarily a masculine activity.     After all, we don't see anyone hanging female genitalia off the back of his or her ride. 

( j/k, Des, sort of. )

[Des]

I won't take offense to the article being aimed primarily at MEN  ...

Really, Pamela, we all know that motorcycling is primarily a masculine activity.     After all, we don't see anyone hanging female genitalia off the back of his or her ride. 



( j/k, Des, sort of. )

  ponders what that would look like riding down the highway ... hmmm  might could make some $$ during this recession on such a gimmick!