A new study shows that aerobic exercise, like that undertaken on an indoor rowing machine, can help improve brain function.

The benefits of taking part in regular aerobic exercise are numerous. Spending time on an indoor rowing machine helps lift your mood, improves cardiovascular fitness and can help combat longer term health problems.

This is because aerobic exercise gets your blood pumping and lungs working. This strengthens the heart, meaning it doesn't have to work as hard day-to-day, allows the muscles to absorb oxygen more efficiently and increases the number of energy producing Mitochondria within the cells.

And those who heed the government guidelines and take 30 minutes of exercise five times a week are also getting another benefit, increased brain function, a new study suggests.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine led a team of scientists who conducted a study into the relationship between exercise and the ability to learn.

Published in the journal Neuroscience, the project was carried out using adult female monkeys, classified as either middle aged or mature. Admittedly, while monkeys might have issues using a Concept2 indoor rowing machine, the researchers believe that the results of this study can also be applied to humans.

Dr Judy Cameron, a psychiatry professor at Pitt School of Medicine and a senior scientist at the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health and Science University, was the lead author of the study.

*"We found that monkeys who exercised regularly at an intensity that would improve fitness in middle-aged people learned to do tests of cognitive function faster and had greater blood volume in the brain's motor cortex than their sedentary counterparts," *she explained.

"This suggests people who exercise are getting similar benefits."

Initially, the monkeys were trained to run on a treadmill for one hour, five days a week, for five months. To do this they were using around 80 per cent of their total aerobic capacity.

The first thing that the researchers noticed was that all the primates became more fit by taking part, despite those considered as middle age being fitter before the test started.

Between the fifth and 24th weeks of training the monkeys were required to take part in certain tasks which required levels of cognitive function. Those which took part in exercise were able to complete the tasks twice as quickly as those who were part of the control group which didn't take part in any specific physical activity.

The results led Dr Cameron to make one conclusion.

"These findings indicate that aerobic exercise at the recommended levels can have meaningful, beneficial effects on the brain," she explained.

Increased blood flow was thought to be the reason behind the ability of the exercising monkeys to learn quicker.

However, people shouldn't think that after five months of intensive exercise on the Concept 2 indoor rowing machine they can relax. Once the monkeys started leading a sedentary lifestyle again, this increased blood flow reduced to normal levels, the research found.

This study is not the first to suggest that aerobic exercise can help increase brain function. Previous tests have established that rats that used a running wheel demonstrated stimulation within their brain cells after just 12 days.

But this research is the first to test the theory on non-human primates, meaning it provides a much clearer picture on how the theory applies to the average man and woman on the street.

Or as Dr Cameron explains it: "It supports the notion that working out is good for people in many, many ways."