In laboratory studies with rats, twenty-one days of running altered their brain stems and prefrontal cortexes—areas of the brain that control the body’s response to fear and stress—in ways that made the rats braver and better able to handle stressful situations. In humans, exercising three times a week for six weeks increases neural connections among areas of the brain that calm anxiety. Regular physical activity also modifies the default state of the nervous system so that it becomes more balanced and less prone to fight, flight, or fright. The latest research even suggests that lactate, the
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