How Exercise May Help Protect Your Brain From Cognitive Decline and Dementia

Older adults with poor fitness levels have more deterioration of white matter in their brains, according to a new study, compared with their fitter peers. White matter deterioration was also linked with a decline in decision-making brain function among adults with early signs of memory loss, suggesting that regular exercise may slow cognitive decline and perhaps even dementia, say the study authors. The study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, is not the first to suggest that exercise may help keep the brain healthy in old age. But while previous research has asked adults to self-report their fitness levels, the new paper used an objective test for cardiorespiratory fitness—measuring people’s VO2 max, a measure of how much oxygen their lungs can utilize during intense exercise. Researchers from the UT Southwestern Medical Center recruited 55 older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), meaning they were starting to show signs of memory problems, and 26 older adults with no signs of MCI. They used imaging techniques to study the white matter in participants’ brains, and measured their VO2 max during a treadmill exercise. They also performed a series of tests to evaluate people’s executive function, which involves mental skills used for everyday decision-making, problem-solving and planning and executing tasks. Executive function is different from memory, but often, both skill sets suffer in people with age-related cognitive ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Exercise/Fitness healthytime onetime Source Type: news