Honestly, this seems like one of those experiments which, in retrospect, provides obvious results. Exercise is a net positive for physical health. Why wouldn't forced exercise provide an additional cognitive/neurological health benefit in addition to the cardio/muscular benefits? I know this is a completely simplistic and unscientific opinion, but it seems to make sense.
Actually, I still find these sorts of results very surprising.
Till recently, I always thought that once one was an adult, one's brain lost its self-renewal capacity, and that progressive mental decline was inevitable. This was the general scientific view as well. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity ]
Probably because if you just do what you're comfortable with, you won't learn anything new. If you're forced to do something uncomfortable, your brain learns more about your body.
Makes sense. They mention other benefits to forced exercise too. I wonder if it is an evolved response to stress. Sort of: if the bear is chasing you your body responds differently to deal with later bears.
I don't think it's that complicated. I just meant learning different ways to move your legs: get your abs involved, pump your arms differently, etc. Parkinson's can make people "forget" how to walk even if they can still run. So learning how to move your body in different ways could help combat that. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/health/01parkinsons.html
