Exercise helps MCI

A pilot study involving 17 older adults with mild cognitive impairment and 18 controls (aged 60-88; average age 78) has found that a 12-week exercise program significantly improved performance on a semantic memory task, and also significantly improved brain efficiency, for both groups.

The program involved treadmill walking at a moderate intensity. The semantic memory tasks involved correctly recognizing names of celebrities well known to adults born in the 1930s and 40s (difficulty in remembering familiar names is one of the first tasks affected in Alzheimer’s), and recalling words presented in a list. Brain efficiency was demonstrated by a decrease in the activation intensity in the 11 brain regions involved in the memory task. The brain regions with improved efficiency corresponded to those involved in Alzheimer's disease, including the precuneus region, the temporal lobe, and the parahippocampal gyrus.

Participants also improved their cardiovascular fitness, by about 10%.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-07/uom-emb073013.php

Reference: 

Smith, J.C. et al. 2013. Semantic Memory Functional MRI and Cognitive Function After Exercise Intervention in Mild Cognitive Impairment. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 37 (1), 197-215.

Related News

Moderate intensity exercise can benefit memory performance

Data from a publicly available database of 1206 MRI brain scans from the Human Connectome Project has revealed that physical fitness is associated with better brain structure and brain functioning in young adults.

A study in which 64 sedentary older adults (aged 60-88) participated in a 12-week exercise program found that those who engaged in high-intensity interval training (HIIT) saw an improvement of up to 30% in memory performance while participants who engaged in moderate-intensity aerobic exercise s

A small study involving 12 very fit older adults (aged 50-80; average age 61) found that, after stopping their exercise routines for 10 days, there was a significant decrease in blood flow to several brain regions, including the

A study involving 30 previously physically inactive older adults (aged 61-88) found that a three-month exercise program reversed some brain atrophy.

A long-running study following 387 Australian women found that regular exercise in middle age was the best lifestyle change they could make to prevent cognitive decline in their later years.

Memories are made through a synaptic-strengthening process called

A Canadian study involving 45,522 adults (30+) found that higher levels of physical activity, eating more fruits and vegetables, and having a BMI in the normal weight or overweight range were each associated with better cognitive function in both younger and older adults.

A rat study comparing different forms of exercise has found that running was much more effective than HIIT or resistence training in generating new brain cells.

A large study, involving nearly 14,000 older adults (50+) participating in the 2006 Health and Retirement Study, found that weaker handgrip strength was associated with a greater risk of developing cognitive impairment, especially severe impairment, over the eight-year study period.

Pages

Subscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest health newsSubscribe to Latest news
Error | About memory

Error

The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.