WANT TO KEEP YOUR BRAIN HEALTHY? STAY PHYSICALLY FIT

As the ancient Romans already knew (remember "a sound mind in a healthy body"?), physical and mental fitness are connected.  Now, two millenia later, new research may tell us why.

Dr. Jonathan Repple, at the University of Muenster, in Germany, and his colleagues were able to study over 1000 MRI brain scans of healthy volunteers, with an average age of 29. They supplemented the scans with a test of physical endurance and a dozen cognitive tests.

 High contast brain scan

Credit: Nevit Delmin/Wikimedia

As has been shown in previous research studies, the researchers found that physical fitness and cognitive functioning were strongly correlated.  What was new was their finding that this correlation was mediated by the integrity and connectivity of the white matter of the subjects' brains.

White matter consists of long, insulated nerve fibers that transmit information rapidly from one part of the brain to another.  Fitter subjects had better brain connectivity, and those with better brain connectivty scored better across the board on cognitive tests.

(This finding makes subjective sense if you consider how much of our thinking consists of making connctions.)

The researchers didn't expect to find such a strong relationship between physical fitness, brain health and cognition in healthy young people. "To see this happening in 30 year olds is surprising," Repple says. "This leads us to believe that a basic level of fitness seems to be a preventable risk factor for brain health."

Still, this correlative study could not determine is whether improving people's fitness will improve the health of their white matter and/or boost their cognitive performance. "We see that fitter people have better brain health," says Repple. "So we now need to ask whether actually making people fitter will improve their brain health. Finding this out is our next step."

Stay tuned. And in the meantime, just in case, stay fit.

Robert Adler

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You can find the research paper, White matter microstructure mediates the association between
physical fitness and cognition in healthy, young adults; at:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49301-y 1

PUTTING THE NUT INTO NUTRITION--ESPECIALLY FOR YOUR BRAIN

This is certainly not the most serious thing I could be writing about, what with the Mueller report finally coming to a fizzling end, Venezuela falling into chaos, the Middle East arguably growing even more explosive, decades of relative restraint on the development and potential use of nuclear weapons being tossed aside by the US and Russia, and, lest we forget, climate change.

Still, a little bit of actually useful information is probably worthy of at least a few moments of your attention.

Here's the snippet of news: If you're over 55 and you eat more than 10 grams (.35 oz or 2 teaspoons) of nuts every day, you're 40 percent more likely to enjoy good thinking and memory than your non-nut-consuming peers.

Can a few peanuts a day keep senility away?

Credit: Aney/Wikimedia

This was the main finding in a study of almost 5000 Chinese seniors. Eating more than 10 grams of nuts every day--mostly peanuts for this study group--boosted cognition by about two-thirds of a point as measured on a 40 point scale. That's equivalent to shaving off two to three years of age.

With a greying population putting millions of people at risk of dementia, any intervention that can slow brain ageing can be of great value to individuals and to society as a whole.

Some people will pay thousands of dollars for surgery to make them look a few years younger. How much is it worth to you to have your brain actually work like it did when you were a few years younger? If the "cost" is munching a few teaspoons of nuts every day, it would seem to be extremely well worth it.

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You can reference the research report in the Journal of Nutrition, Health & Ageing here.

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DON'T JUST REMEMBER TO EXERCISE--EXERCISE TO REMEMBER!

We all know that exercise boosts physical fitness, but more and more research is showing that it also boosts mental fitness. The latest evidence appears in an article in MIT's Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, showing that six weeks of aerobic exercise boosted performance on a challenging memory task. Although the subjects in this study were 95 healthy young adults, the researchers expect to see similar results as they research the benefits of exercise for older adults. They hope to show that exercise can ward off age-related memory loss and even the ravages of dementia.

“At the other end of our lifespan, as we reach our senior years," says researcher Jennifer Heisz, at McMaster University, in Ontario, Canada, "we might expect to see even greater benefits in individuals with memory impairment brought on by conditions such as dementia.”

 Aerobic exercise--credit Wikipedia

The kind of exercise that produced these results is called interval training--short bouts of intense exercise followed by a short rest period, repeated over 20 minutes. The physical results were impressive--improved cardiovascular fitness, and an increase in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) a protein that helps brain cells to survive and thrive. But the mental benefits were equally important--a significant boost to high-interference memory, which lets us recall the correct word, name or event when there are many similar possibilities.

A growing body of research with mice and other animals also homes in on BDNF as a key player in translating physical exercise into better brain functioning. Remarkably, there are hints that this effect changes the expression of DNA in reproductive cells and can pass on cognitive benefits to offspring. You can read an excellent summary in TheScientist by clicking here.

So, if you remember to exercise, exercise will help you remember!

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FEELING MENTALLY FOGGY? PUMP SOME IRON!

Trouble remembering that phone number? Forget why you went into the kitchen? Doctor's appointment just slipped your mind? Lose track of what you're saying in the middle of a . . . ?

If that kind of mental glitch is all too familiar, then you, like millions of ageing Americans, may be suffering from mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This cluster of brain-related changes centering around memory but at times impacting attention, concentration and decision-making may simply be one of the frustrations of getting older, but it can also be a warning sign along the road to Alzheimer's disease or other kinds of dementia.

The good news is that something as simple as increasing your muscle strength by lifting weights or working out on resistance machines can turn back the clock.

Credit: The University of Sydney

A new study just published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that people 55 and above with MCI who did progressive resistance exercises two times a week for six months not only gained physical strength but significantly improved their cognitive functioning as well. 

"The stronger people became, the greater the benefit for their brain," says lead author Yorgi Mavros, at the University of Sydney.

The weight-training participants--ranging in age from 55 to 86--lifted at 80 percent of their maximum capacity in order to gradually increase muscle strength.

To top off the good news, the participants' improved mental sharpness lasted for a year or more after the strength training ended.

This carefully designed and controlled study allowed the researchers to confirm a causal relationship between the strength-increasing exercise and cognitive improvement for the first time. The most consistent and across-the-board improvements came with increased lower body strength.

Previous research at the same center using MRI scans showed that weight training actually caused an increase in the size of particular brain regions, and that those brain changes correlated with improved cognitive functioning.

Remarkably, weight training boosted cognitive functioning more than computerized cognitive training did.

"The more we can get people doing resistance training like weight lifting, the more likely we are to have a healthier ageing population," said Mavros. 

"The key however is to make sure you are doing it frequently, at least two times a week, and at a high intensity so that you are maximizing your strength gains. This will give you the maximum benefit for your brain."

You can read the paper's abstract and supporting documents here.

And, to help you remember what you've just learned, a new study shows that 30 minutes of aerobic exercise improves retention and memory for new information.