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The positive effects of exercise on brain health have been demonstrated in many studies now. The next step may be to develop low-cost programs in the community that provide appropriate support and structure for adults (especially older adults) to encourage physical activity.
A great example of such program is The Adult Playground in Beijing, China (Dhand et al., 2010):

Half a football field large, this space consisted of all-weather stretching and strengthening equipment such as elliptical machines, flat benches, modified leg press machines, railings at different heights, monkey bars, and arm and leg rotatory devices. The area was teeming with adults, most older than 60 years, who were not only exercising but also playing games such as Chinese hacky sack (a Chinese game from the 5th century BC) and traditional board games.

The Chinese government has erected several outdoor adult playground of this type across urban areas. This seems to be a great example of a low-cost, easily accessible, solution combining physical exercise with socialization as well as cognitive exercise.

An interesting article in Nature Reviews last month reviewed several studies showing that cognitive intervention can be beneficial even for individuals already diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease (Buschert et al., 2010).

The article shows that patients with mild-to-moderate dementia can benefit from a range of cognitive interventions: from training of partially spared cognitive functions to training on activities of daily living. Results suggest that such interventions can improve global cognition, abilities of daily living and quality of life in these patients.

Patients with moderate-to-severe dementia seem to benefit from general engagement in activities that enhance cognitive and social functioning in a non-specific manner.

In general, for patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, the reviewed studies suggest that programs focusing on global cognitive stimulation are more effective than programs that train specific cognitive functions.

The opposite seems true for people diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). As you may remember, MCI diagnosis is made upon objective memory deficits that do not interfere with activities of daily living. 5 to 10% of people with MCI develop dementia within 1 year after being diagnosed.

It is interesting to see that the type of cognitive intervention one may benefit from changes over the years, depending on one’s cognitive status. This shows once again that there is no general magic pill in terms of brain fitness: Some interventions or programs work because they meet the needs of some specific individuals. No program can work for everybody.

According to Buschert and colleagues (2010) programs focusing on global cognitive stimulation could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease “by 5 years in patients who will eventually develop this condition. As a result, the prevalence of AD could decrease by 50%, leading to substantial personal, social and economic benefits.”

The authors conclude that efforts to develop and implement cognitive-based intervention for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease must be pursued. Indeed, cognitive interventions have several advantages compared to pharmacological treatments: a) lower costs, b) no side effects, and c) higher cost-effectiveness (on average, anti-dementia drugs delay cognitive decline by only 6–12 months).

In the latest issue of Neurology a study by Erickson et al. (2010) suggests that walking regularly can increase brain volume and reduce the risks of developing cognitive impairment.

The researchers stared with 2 mains facts:

• Gray matter volume shrinks with age, often leading to cognitive decline.
• Physical exercise seems to be neuro-protector (see our previous post: Fitter bodies = fitter brains. True at all ages?)

They asked 2 questions:

• Can physical activity assessed earlier predict gray matter volume 9 years later?
• Is greater gray matter volume associated with reduced risks of developing cognitive impairment?

The study:

• 299 participants, mean age: 78, 182 female.
• Physical activity was assessed in 1988–1989 (baseline) = total number of blocks walked over 1 week.
• Cognitive functions were assessed in 1998–1999 (all participants were cognitively normal) and 3–4 years later (116 participants were diagnosed with dementia or mild cognitive impairment, MCI).
• High-resolution MRI scans of the participants’ brains were taken in 1998–1999 (9 years after physical activity was assessed).

The results

• Greater amounts of physical activity (walking distance) predicted greater gray matter volume 9 years later: the longer the distance people used to walk, the larger their brain volume.
• This effect was observed  mostly in the prefrontal and temporal regions of the brain, including in the hippocampus (a region critical for forming new memories).
• The effect appeared only when walking long distances (6–9 miles a week).
• The effect was associated with lower risk of developing dementia or MCI.

Limitations of the study: First, gray matter volume could not be measured at the beginning of the study. Thus it is possible that physical activity was not the factor causing the increase of gray matter. Maybe people who ended up with bigger brains at the end of the 9 years study also started with bigger brains, for whatever reason.

Second, participants were not randomly assigned to a physical exercise group and a control group. It is thus not possible to conclude that physical activity per se CAUSED greater brain volume in this particular study. Note however that such a causal relationship has been observed in other studies.

Strengths of the study: The sample size was good and the follow-up period long enough (13 years) to suggest that exercising now matters for later brain fitness.

The results confirm that physical exercise is good for the brain! Aerobic activity may increase the growth of new neurons, the connections between neurons and the blood vessels nourishing the brain.

Reference:  K.I. Erickson, C.A. Raji, O.L. Lopez, J.T. Becker, C. Rosano, A.B. Newman, H.M. Gach, P.M. Thompson, A.J. Ho, and L.H. Kuller (2010). Physical activity predicts gray matter volume in late adulthood: The Cardiovascular Health Study. Neurology ; 75: 1415.

The New-York Times reports on the study published a few days ago in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, “Mental retirement”:

… Data from the United States, England and 11 other European countries suggest that the earlier people retire, the more quickly their memories decline.

… what aspect of work is doing that, Dr. Suzman said. “Is it the social engagement and interaction or the cognitive component of work, or is it the aerobic component of work?” he asked. “Or is it the absence of what happens when you retire, which could be increased TV watching?”

Comments: This new study is another piece of evidence accumulating with more and more others suggesting that a brain healthy life-style requires constant cognitive challenge to help maintain high-level cognitive functions. Whether it is speaking multiple languages, physically exercising or staying mentally active, our everyday life can positively impact our brain health.  Something to keep in mind after retirement…and to even retire the word “retirement”!

The results are also intriguing because working combines multiple aspects of a brain-healthy lifestyle (social engagement, mental stimulation) with aspects not so good for the brain (stress, absence of physical exercise in some cases). However, it seems that, overall, the good aspects of working take over the bad ones as far as memory functions are concerned.

An article in the Wall Street Journal today, Building a More Resilient Brain, reviews the work of Dr. Bialystok and her colleagues on the benefits that bilingualism brings to the brain. Another great example of neuroplasticity.

… over time, regularly speaking more than one language appears to strengthen skills that boost the brain’s so-called cognitive reserve, a capacity to work even when stressed or damaged. This build-up of cognitive reserve appears to help bilingual people as they age.

… the process of speaking two or more languages appears to enable people to develop skills to better cope with the early symptoms of memory-robbing diseases, including Alzheimer’s. […] the advantages of bilingualism are thought to be related to a brain function known as inhibitory or cognitive control: the ability to stop paying attention to one thing and focus on something else

Comments: What if I only speak one language? Would it be beneficial to start learning one now? Would I need to speak it everyday? Would it help me built reserve? Unfortunately science does not have evidence-based answers to these questions yet… But learning a new language follows the recipe for a good mental exercise as outlined in The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: Variety, Challenge and Novelty.

• Vari­ety: to stim­u­late mul­ti­ple func­tions of the brain.
• Chal­lenge:  to avoid routine.
• Nov­elty:  to stimulate parts of the brain such as the pre­frontal cor­tex that are mostly exer­cised when we learn to mas­ter new cog­ni­tive challenges.

As such, learning a new language is a great mental exercise. However it cannot be the magic answer to everything. As you know, brain maintenance requires a multi-faceted approach comprising at least a variety of brain stimulation, balanced nutrition, stress management, socialization and physical exercise.

Related post: Mental stimulation: building a Brain/ Cognitive Reserve with novelty, variety and challenge

Brain training does not necessarily mean computerized games. For instance, mediation may be a great tool to train your brain.

Different parts of the brain support different functions. One function, central to many of our actions, is “attention”. Attention can be defined as the ability to sustain concentration on a particular object, action, or thought.
It can also be defined as the ability to manage competing demands in our environment.connections between neurons, die. In the brain it is supported mainly by neuronal networks in the parietal (yellow in the figure) and frontal (blue in the figure) lobes.

What can be done to maintain and boost such a fundamental ability?

Dr. Andrew Newberg (Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology and Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania), here interviewed by Alvaro Fernandez (CEO of SharpBrains) suggests that meditation may have cognitive benefits, especially related to attention:

“At its core, meditation is an active process that requires alertness and attention, which explains why we often find increased brain activity in frontal lobes during practice. Usually you need to focus on something — a mantra, a visual or verbal prompt– while you monitor breathing.
A variety of studies have already shown the stress management benefits of meditation, resulting in what is often called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. What we are researching now is what are the cognitive — attention, memory– benefits? It is clear that memory depends on attention and the ability to screen out distractions — so we want to measure the effect of meditation on the brain, both structurally and functionally.“
(Read the full interview in The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness)

Examples of such scientific studies are those by M. Posner, a pioneer researcher in the domain of attention, currently an Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon.

A few years ago, Posner and his colleagues randomly assigned participants to either an Integrative Body-Mind Training (IBMT) or to a relaxation training. Both trainings lasted 5 days, 20min per day. IBMT is a meditation  technique developed in China in the 1990s. It stresses a balanced state of  relaxation while focusing attention. Thought control is achieved with the help  of a coach through posture, relaxation, body-mind harmony and balance.

The  results of this study showed that after training, participants in the IBMT training  group showed more improvement in a task measuring attention than the control group. The IBMT training also helped reduced cortisol levels caused by mental stress.

In a follow-up study the team found out that IBMT subjects in China had increased blood flow in the right anterior cingulate cortex (a part of the frontal lobe) after receiving training for 20 minutes a day over five days. This showed that meditation does indeed change the brain and thus its functioning.

In sum, meditation may be a potentially powerful tool to train the brain. No computer needed!

Related post: Mindfulness and Meditation in Schools for Stress Management

What is mental self rotation? It is the ability to imagine yourself in different locations in space and imagine your body moving in space. This is an ability that is used in different everyday activities such as navigating in an environment or reading a map.

- Ability involved: egocentric spatial transformations (yes, that is the scientific expression) or mental self rotation.

- Brain areas involved: mostly parietal lobes.

Let’s take an example. Imagine that you plan to go to a new Walgreens’ location. You wonder whether going North on Big Bend Avenue you would have to make a right or a left turn onto Forsyth Blvd to get to Walgreens. You then look at the map that your spouse has laid out on the table. It turns out that the map is upside down so your perspective is not aligned with the one shown on the map (see Figure 1 just below, Box A). How do you get the answer to your question?

— Figure 1. The map is upside down (A). The red dot represents your car’s position. Your goal is to go to Walgreens (W). You can either perform an object rotation (B), that is imagine the map rotating, or a self rotation (C), that is imagine yourself at the red dot location.

To align your perspective with the one showed on the map you could imagine the map rotating until it is upright. This is shown at the top right corner of Figure 1 above (Box B). This is what psychologists call mental rotation of object. Another solution is to imagine viewing the map from the other side of the table. This is shown at the bottom right corner of Figure 1 above (Box C). Once you have imagined yourself on the other side of the table you can use your body coordinates and determine that you will have to take a left on Forsyth. In that case, the map is not moving but you are moving. This is what psychologists call mental self rotation.

Ready to imagine yourself moving in space?

For each map below count how many left and right turns you have to make to go from the circle to the triangle. Follow the arrows. Do not move your body or your hands, try to do everything mentally.

 

 

Solutions

Map 1: 3 left runs and 3 right turns

Map 2: 3 left runs and 3 right turns

Map 3: 6 left runs and 4 right turns

 

— This article was written by Pascale Michelon, Ph. D., for SharpBrains.com. Dr. Michelon, Copyright 2008. Dr. Michelon has a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology and has worked as a Research Scientist at Washington University in Saint Louis, in the Psychology Department. She conducted several research projects to understand how the brain makes use of visual information and memorizes facts. She is now an Adjunct Faculty at Washington University, and teaches Memory Workshops in numerous retirement communities in the St Louis area.

You may enjoy these other teasers by Dr. Michelon:

- Spot the Difference

- Word game

- Boost your visuospatial skills

- Words in your brain

And our Top 50 Brain Teasers collection.

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