Aerobic Exercise Improves Memory and Brain Power in Older Adults

[Guest guest]

Aerobic Exercise Improves Memory and Brain Power in Older Adults

Sunday, May 18, 2008 by: Sherry Baker

http://www.naturalnews.com/023261.html

(NaturalNews) Want to boost your brain power? Try boosting your heart and lung

power with aerobic fitness and you may also end up with a more " fit " mind as a

bonus. That's the conclusion of a recent review of studies by researchers from

the University of Applied Sciences in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The report,

published in a recent issue of The Cochrane Library (a publication of The

Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical

research), concludes that just as aerobic physical exercise improves

cardiovascular fitness and contributes to healthy aging of the body, it also

helps boost cognitive fitness in older people.

In fact, getting your body moving can boost cognitive processing speed, motor

function and even visual and auditory attention in healthy older people,

according to lead review author Maaike Angevaren. That's especially good news

for Baby Boomers because around age 50, occasional memory lapses or " senior

moments " can become noticeable, along with a reduced ability to pay close

attention to a task.

Angevaren and her colleagues studied 11 randomized controlled trials that took

place in the U.S., France and Sweden involving 670 adults ages 55 and older. The

studies examined how aerobic exercise impacts areas of cognition including

cognitive processing speed, memory and attention. In these studies, research

subjects exercised aerobically between two and seven days a week. The exercises

all involved the continuous, rhythmic type of work-outs that improve respiratory

endurance and stamina as they strengthen the heart and lungs.

After about three months, the study participants underwent both fitness and

cognitive function testing. Eight of the 11 studies concluded participation in

aerobic exercise programs increased participants' VO2 maximum by 14 percent. VO2

maximum is a term used to document the amount of oxygen a person can utilize per

minute of work. It is often used as an evaluation of a person's cardiovascular

efficiency.

The research subjects were compared to groups of non-exercisers or non-aerobic

exercisers. No one was surprised that most groups comprised of those who worked

out aerobically had more improvement of their physical fitness than those who

did not exercise vigorously. But what was surprising was that levels of

cognitive function also soared, especially motor function, cognitive speed and

auditory and visual attention.

" Improvements in cognition as a result of improvements in cardiovascular fitness

are being explained by improvements in cerebral blood flow, leading to increased

brain metabolism which, in turn, stimulates the production of neurotransmitters

and formation of new synapses, " Angevaren said. She also explained that improved

cardiovascular fitness could lead to a decline in cardiovascular disease which

is well known to have a negative affect on cognition.

Another reason a fit lifestyle might help the brain: it can help lower blood

pressure. Other research recently released by doctors at University

Hospital in Washington, DC, concludes " optimal control of blood pressure may be

beneficial in attenuating the risk of cognitive decline as the population ages. "

Studying data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

(NHANES III), Dr. Olabode Obisesan and research team investigated whether

abnormal blood pressure is independently associated with lower cognitive

function in men and women who were between 60 and 74 years old when they entered

the study. They found that normal blood pressure (less than 120/80 mm Hg) was

clearly linked with the best cognitive performance in people aged 60 to 69.

About the author

Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in Newsweek,

Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry, Atlanta,

Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA's " Healthy Years "

newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine's " Focus on Health Aging " newsletter,

the Cleveland Clinic's " Men's Health Advisor " newsletter and many others.