In rat race, running in groups more effective

While some people swear by the meditative nature of a long solo run, as anyone who has been to Dillion Gym during peak hours knows, there are many who prefer the company of others while exercising. And sweating among one's peers may actually be beneficial, a new study on rat behavior conducted by University psychology professor Elizabeth Gould suggests.

Gould's study tested the impact of social environment on a rat's brain cell growth and examined the benefits and drawbacks of physical stress caused by the number of other rats in its surroundings.

After injecting the rats with a dye to mark new brain cell growth, Gould and her team separated them into four groups: rats that lived in isolation and exercised, rats that lived in a group and exercised, rats that lived in isolation and did not exercise and rats that lived in a group but did not exercise.

Once they started running, exercising rats showed more cell growth than the non-exercising rats in the same situation, proving the benefits of exercise. The levels of corticosterone, a stress hormone, however, were much higher in the groups that lived in isolation than in the groups that lived together. These observations revealed the benefits of exercising in groups over exercising individually.

But do these results mean anything for students planning an exercise regimen?

"It's important to emphasize that this work is not directly relevant to humans," Gould said. "First, rats have a universal drive to run. While some people may feel internally motivated to exercise, most do not and need additional incentives."

For James Colby '09, the implications of Gould's findings with rats may not alter his preferred exercise regimen. "I run better individually. I guess I'm just one of the few that runs better alone," he said.

Gould also said that most people have some form of social interaction, even if they live alone. She compared the situation of the isolated rats to solitary confinement for a human.

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"That said, our study adds to the existing literature that positive social interactions can buffer the effects of stress on the body and brain," Gould said.