How does physical movement benefit brain development in elementary Research Paper

How does physical movement benefit brain development in elementary students - Research Paper Example In the past, such a debate has been concentric upon an understanding of whether childhood play is beneficial or not with regards to overall development of mental capacity and understanding. However, within the scope of this particular analysis, play in and of itself will not be discussed. Rather, due to the fact that the focus of this analysis is concentric upon the means by which activity can impact positively upon the learning process, play is an insufficient definition of such an activity. Within such a manner, the handle of physical activity will be utilized as a means of discussing and analyzing what prior research has documented concerning any and all languages that might exist with regards to development of mental capacity and ability to engage in further educational endeavors. Linking directly back into an understanding of the way in which sociology and psychology have traditionally understood development in terms of heredity, up until almost 15 years ago, sociologists and ps ychologists believed that early childhood development was almost invariably tied to heredity (Leppert et al, 2009). In such a way, scientists believed that the parents of the individual child created something of a genetic blueprint by which further development and mental capacity were constrained. However, if not surprisingly, further research into the subject matter, and a vastly increased level of knowledge with regards to the way in which early development takes place, has denoted that heredity plays only a minimal role with regards to the â€Å"wiring† that the brain engages in (Lum, 2013). Such an understanding has of course been made easier due to the fact that increases in technology have provided scientists and researchers with specialized scans and mapping applications by which key test subjects were analyzed from week to week, month to month, and year to year as a means of providing a roadmap for the way in which brain development was actually affected within diffe rent key groups. As a result of this level of research that has been ongoing for the past few decades, scientists have definitively determined that the patterns and strengthening of bonding synapses is primarily influenced and aided by the existence of physical activity within the regime of the child. This should not be understood to mean that a level of sports or competitive games must be engaged in order for this physicality aspect to be positively correlated to brain activity (Hotz et al, 2009). Rather, almost all of the accident research which is been conducted on this topic has determined that physical activity in the form of play, kinetic learning, and many other forms are equally as beneficial; perhaps more due to the fact that they do not oftentimes behave within rigid norms or regulations. In effect, the inclusion of creativity alongside physical activity seems to be as something of a magic formula with regards to stimulating brain development and maximizing the overall lev els of connections that can be made within the adolescent mind. Perhaps most importantly of all, scientists have determined that there is a â€Å"sweet spot† with regards the timeframe in which this can be affected. As sociologists and