Researchers published a study in the journal Imaging Neuroscience showing that 10 minutes of very slow running at 3-6 km/h improves mood and executive function. ^[1] Professor Hideaki Soya, an emeritus professor of exercise biochemistry and neuroendocrinology at the University of Tsukuba, supervised a study published in Imaging Neuroscience at the beginning of August. ^[2] The study concluded that 10 minutes of very slow jogging, at a pace barely faster than walking, can almost immediately modify brain activity in people. ^[3] Activity increased in the left dorsolateral prefrontal and left frontopolar cortices, regions associated with executive function and mood regulation. ^[4] Participants who ran at a pace of approximately 35% of their peak oxygen uptake (V̇o2peak) showed a shorter Stroop interference time, a measure of executive function. ^[5] In a 2007 study published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Soya's team observed that mice running at their slowest possible speed showed increased neuronal activity markers in memory and thinking areas compared to inactive mice. ^[6] Greater up-and-down movement of the runner's head, characteristic of running, was associated with a greater improvement in mood compared to other movements. ^[7]