A student in school who feels like their brain is a little sluggish should consider jogging across campus to their next class before taking an exam. That's because researchers at Northeastern University found a short burst of exercise can help students increase their concentration and executive function.

The Cleveland Clinic defines executive function as the brain-related processes that help you set and carry out goals;, things like problem solving, plan setting and emotion management. And the benefit of exercise is universal so you don't have to be a student to gain from a brief exercise break.

In this study, the latest where professor Charles Hillman demonstrated the positive impact exercise can have on the brain, students were asked to complete a short round (10 minutes) of focused exercise just before attending class.

These students filled out a questionnaire before exercising and again after class with the purpose of measuring executive function. The same students also completed the same questionnaire before and after class on another day without exercise, which served as a control for the experiment.

Hillman says the amount of exercise needed to have a positive effect of cognition and executive function does not need to be very intense. He equates it to, "if you were walking between buildings on campus for a meeting and you're maybe just a hair late."

Tests have previously been done measuring the brain-boosting effect of HIIT (high-intensity interval training), where the heart rate spikes, and MICE (moderate-intensity continuous exercise), where there is a steady, sustained increase. And, at least among the young adults that were tested, cognition improvements were most seen after moderate exercise.

Word of the findings from the previous studies must be spreading because Hillman said he heard of elementary school teachers and administrators who asked their students to do some exercises before taking tests and saw improvements in standardized achievement tests of reading and math.

"I think there's definitely utility in using exercise prior to taking classes," Hillman said.

Click here to read more in the International Journal of Mental Health Promotion.