Teenage girls who walk to school perform better cognitively than those who are driven there, the results of a new study indicate.

Cognition refers to a group of mental processes that include memory, problem solving, decision making and language skills.

Spanish researchers decided to investigate whether the method of getting to school had any effect on cognitive performance. They looked at 1,700 boys and girls aged between 13 and 18 in five different cities.

Information on the teenagers' daily commute to school was collected, as well as other information, such as participation in extracurricular activities and families' socioeconomic status.

The participants' cognitive performance was then measured using a standardised Spanish education ability test, which measured their intelligence and basic ability to learn. This included tests of their language and maths skills.

The study found that girls who walked to school performed better cognitively than girls who travelled to school by car or bus.

Furthermore, among those who walked, girls who had to walk for longer than 15 minutes performed better cognitively than those who had a shorter walk to school.

The researchers pointed out that during adolescence, ‘the plasticity of the brain is greater than at any other time of life, which makes it the opportune period to stimulate cognitive function'. Brain plasticity refers to the brain's ability to change and adapt as a result of the experiences it undergoes.

However, adolescence also tends to be the time when physical activity levels record their greatest decline, particularly in teenage girls. As a result, the researchers believe that ‘inactive adolescents could be missing out on a very important stimulus to improve their learning and cognitive performance'.

"Commuting to school on foot is a healthy daily habit, which contributes to keeping the adolescent active during the rest of the day and encourages them to participate in physical and sports activities. This boosts the expenditure of energy and, all in all, leads to a better state of health," the researchers concluded.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.