When you engage in some moderately intense exercise first thing in the morning, your brain will work more efficiently as you go about your daily routines.

The Aussie researchers also recommend that you keep on moving throughout the day. When you avoid sitting continuously for long stretches, and take easy walking breaks at least once an hour, you can give an additional boost to your brain’s neurons.

In this research, the Australian scientists examined how periodic exercise boosts attention span, decision-making (which derives from what researchers call the brain’s “executive function”), working memory and visual learning.

They found that morning exercise and moving around once in a while, instead of barely budging from your seat, encourages the brain’s production of the protein called brain-derived neurotropic growth factor (BDNF).