Fight Aging! Newsletter, November 13th 2023

This study investigated the correlation among muscle strength, working memory (WM), and cortical hemodynamics during the N-back task of memory performance, and further explored whether cortical hemodynamics during N-back task mediated the relationship between muscle strength and WM performance. We observed that muscle strength (particularly grip strength) predicted WM of older adults in this cross-sectional study, which validated our hypothesis and expanded on previous research findings. Studies demonstrated that grip strength predicted executive function decline in patients with mild cognitive impairment. Other cross-sectional studies showed that grip strength and lower limb strength also predicted cognitive impairment. Previous research revealed that grip strength was positively linked to cognitive functions such as WM, language fluency, and word recall. The reason why grip strength predicted working memory might be the control of muscles by the nervous system. Grip strength was influenced not only by muscle volume but also by the central nervous system, conversely, neurologic deterioration not only contributed to cognitive decline but might also be a factor in strength loss. This was consistent with the findings of the present study, where we found that greater muscle strength was associated with higher levels of activation in specific regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC)/a> and better WM performance. The greater the muscle strength, the stronger the activity of t...
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