We’ve all read about the effect that our mind has on our health as well as our outlook on life. And what’s good for your body apparently is also good for your mind. Regular exercise is one of the best things we can do to improve overall health and well-being. Successful aging studies are consistently showing that higher levels of physical activity are correlated with better brain aging. And exercise has also emerged as a factor that may prevent (or at least delay) the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
“We know that exercise is the one intervention that has the most powerful and consistent effect on the prevention of dementia and Alzheimer’s,” says William J. Evans, director of the Nutrition, Metabolism and Exercise Laboratory with the Institute for Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
We Baby Boomers can improve our memory ability and decrease memory loss, not through a pill, but by simple exercise. This is the result an 18-month study, conducted by the University of Western Australia, of 170 men and women over age 50 who reported experiencing memory problems but did not meet the criteria for dementia.
The volunteers were divided into two groups. One group continued with usual activities while the other group participated in a 24-week home-based physical activity program that encouraged participants to walk for 50 minutes, three times a week.
At the end of the six-month trial, participants in the exercise group scored better on cognitive and memory tests. Those results held steady when participants were retested six months later, and again after 12 months. The study was published Sept. 3in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
It’s been determined that consistent exercise increases levels of brain chemicals that encourage the growth of nerve cells. This may explain why aerobic activity enhances memory skills, and why moderately strenuous physical activity is strongly associated with successful brain aging.
Recent neuroscience reports have shed new light on the basic question of how exercise affects the brain. "It's sort of surprising to think about," says Carl W. Cotman, PhD, neurobiologist at University of California-Irvine and a Dana Alliance member. "You're literally building the structure of the brain, just by moving your feet."
Brain imaging studies show that highly-fit older adults have faster reaction times—an indication of better concentration—than their less-fit counterparts. They also are better able to focus on relevant information and ignore irrelevant cues, indicating better attention.
Also fit people show less of a decrease in gray matter in the cortex than is normally seen with aging, which may suggest a protective effect of exercise against nerve cell death. This effect is most pronounced in areas of the brain involved in executive cognition that typically decline most with aging. Laboratory animals that are allowed to voluntarily run on an exercise wheel show increases in the generation and survival of new neurons (brain cells) in the hippocampus (the area of the brain involved in short term memory). This increased neurogenesis is associated with improved learning.
Exercise induces changes in the expression patterns of a wide array of genes, with some becoming more active and some showing less activity. Many of the genes that become more active are known to play roles in the structure and adaptability of synapses, suggesting a direct role for exercise in synapse density.
A growth factor called BDNF (for brain-derived neurotrophic factor) increases significantly in the brains of animals that run voluntarily. And of great importance to those of us who aren’t animals, separate studies show that when people with depression exercise in addition to taking antidepressants, their BDNF levels go up and their depression symptoms decrease.
Obviously exercise is a pill we all should be taking, but like taking medications, we need to do it correctly and do it effectively without getting injured. Personal training is a great way to assess your present situation and to effectively design and implement an exercise program that works for you and gives you attainable goals. Life is best enjoyed with a healthy body and a healthy mind, the path to this is not that difficult. So put your mind to it!
LouAnn Good
Fitness Together Fort Myers
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