'Brain Bike' arrives at Naperville junior high

Naperville students can now exercise their bodies and brains at the same time.

Madison Junior High is trying out the new NeuroActive Bike, also known as the "Brain Bike," that combines a cardio workout with brain-stimulating exercises.

"It's like getting a morning coffee ... you hop on the bike for a few minutes and you train your cardio, train your brain and it makes you more in the mood for learning new skills," said Stephane Bergeron, president of Brain Center America.

Doctors with the group first developed the brain exercise software, then added it to a stationary bicycle. It made its way to Naperville through Phil Lawler, director of outreach and training for PE4life. Lawler is a former member of the Madison staff and the former Naperville Unit District 203 physical education coordinator.

Madison students tested the new equipment Thursday, pedalling away on a stationary bike while solving math problems, matching patterns and testing their memory of names and faces all on a computer screen attached to the bike.

"A lot of kids wish they didn't have to exercise because they don't like running at all or even just walking," said Paige Gutierrez, who recently graduated from Madison. "By doing the problems I didn't even realize I was actually working my legs until I got off and I could feel the burn."

The program can help with 16 cognitive functions such as focus, memory, word skills, processing speed and arithmetic - and can be adjusted to help riders of almost any age. Among other possibilities, developers say the brain exercises can help business people stay on top of their game and riders of any age combat the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

As the biker gets more answers correct, the questions get progressively harder.

"What studies have shown in medicine is your brain behaves like a muscle," Bergeron said. "The more you flex your brain, the more you exercise it, the bigger it gets, the stronger it grows and it really changes physiologically."

He said recent research shows people can generate new brain cells and improve connectivity in the brain. The NeuroActive programs can increase brain function by 20 percent, he says, the same amount the average adult loses over a 10-year period.

"It's never too late to start but the sooner you start training your brain the better it is, the better it functions and the healthier it is," Bergeron said.

In addition to being programmed into the bike's computer, software also is available for the typical home or office computer and even iPhones.

But experts say performing these exercises will be even more productive on the bike.

"If you get blood flow to the brain, oxygen to the brain ... it's going to function much better," Lawler said.

The bikes are not Naperville Unit District 203's first foray into combining exercise with learning. Lawler and Paul Zientarski, head of the physical education department at Naperville Central High School, started a program that puts struggling high school students into an early morning gym class that includes both physical activity and literacy lessons. It has been featured in the book, "Spark," by John Ratey, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Lawler hopes the new bike will have the same positive results for students. Madison teachers will experiment to determine how best to fit it into the curriculum.

"It's going to really impact schools in the future and we're fortunate we get to be at the cutting edge of it," Lawler said.

The NeuroActive Bike is now for sale at Marbles: The Brain Store, 4999 Westfield Old Orchard Center, Suite F-15, Skokie. It is one of the only stores in the U.S. selling the bike.

The bike is also available through Brain Center America at braincenteramerica.com or (866) 716-3876. Prices range from about $3,000 for a home version to $4,500 for a gym-quality version.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.braincenteramerica.com/gyms.php">NeuroActive Bike home page</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>