Toronto, Nov 12 (PTI): Moms-to-be, please note! Just 20 minutes of moderate exercise three times per week during pregnancy enhances the newborn child's brain development, scientists have found.

Researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine children's hospital said this head-start could have an impact on the child's entire life.

"Our research indicates that exercise during pregnancy enhances the newborn child's brain development," said Professor Dave Ellemberg, who led the study.

"While animal studies have shown similar results, this is the first randomised controlled trial in humans to objectively measure the impact of exercise during pregnancy directly on the newborn's brain.

"We hope these results will guide public health interventions and research on brain plasticity. Most of all, we are optimistic that this will encourage women to change their health habits, given that the simple act of exercising during pregnancy could make a difference for their child's future," said Ellemberg.

Ellemberg and his colleagues Professor Daniel Curnier and PhD candidate Elise Labonte-LeMoyne presented their findings at the Neuroscience 2013 congress in San Diego.

In the study, starting at the beginning of their second trimester, women were randomly assigned to an exercise group or a sedentary group.

Women in the exercise group had to perform at least 20 minutes of cardiovascular exercise three times per week at a moderate intensity, which should lead to at least a slight shortness of breath.

Women in the sedentary group did not exercise. The brain activity of the newborns was assessed between the ages of 8 to 12 days, by means of electroencephalography, which enables the recording of the electrical activity of the brain.

"We used 124 soft electrodes placed on the infant's head and waited for the child to fall asleep on his or her mother's lap. We then measured auditory memory by means of the brain's unconscious response to repeated and novel sounds," Labonte-LeMoyne said.