Want a sharper mind as you age? Forget brain games–engaging in cardiovascular exercise could protect your brain later on in life, say researchers.
A new study published in the health journal Neurobiology says that engaging in exercise regularly helps improve blood flow to the brain, reducing the risk of cognitive decline as people age.
The research was led by Claudine Gauthier, a researcher from the University of Montreal.
“Our body’s arteries stiffen with age, and the vessel hardening is believed to begin in the aorta, the main vessel coming out of the heart, before reaching the brain,” says Gauthier. “Indeed, the hardening may contribute to cognitive changes that occur during a similar time frame.”
Working with other researchers from the University of Montreal, Gauthier led a study looking at how exercise habits affected blood flow through the brain–something thought to affect a person’s cogitative ability. To do so, he recruited 31 people between the ages of 18 to 30 and 54 people between the ages of 55 to 75 to see how exercised affected people at different ages. All of them first underwent a fitness test to purposely exhaust them–something he needed to do to gauge their maximum oxygen intake.
As a follow-up, they also did The Stroop Task, a scientific test which requires people to identify the ink color of a word printed in a different color. Those who answered it correctly without being distracted generally had better cognitive ability.
After these tasks were completed, Gauthier ran them through a MRI scan to measure the amount of blood flow to the brain–and the evidence was pretty clear. For those who were more physically in shape, they had better blood flow to the brain. And these people also scored better on the Stroop Task, indicating that their rate of cognitive decline was lower.
“We found that older adults whose aortas were in a better condition and who had greater aerobic fitness performed better on a cognitive test,” says Gauthier. “We therefore think that the preservation of vessel elasticity may be one of the mechanisms that enables exercise to slow cognitive aging.”
So what do these results mean for you? It’s simple: Being in better shape means you’ll have a sharper mind. And the best way to get in shape is by exercising regularly.
“Although the impact of fitness on cerebral vasculature may however involve other, more complex mechanisms, overall these results support the hypothesis that lifestyle helps maintain the elasticity of arteries, thereby preventing downstream cerebrovascular damage and resulting in preserved cognitive abilities in later life,” says Gauthier.
What You Should Do
For a sharper brain, make regular exercise a priority, especially cardiovascular exercise–this helps strengthen the blood vessels in your brain. To start, aim for 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week to give your heart (and brain) a good pump.
Readers: What else do you do to sharpen your mind?
Sources:
Study: Cardiovascular Exercise Helps Prevent Age-Related Memory Loss – ScienceDaily.com
Train Your Heart To Protect Your Mind (Study) – Umontreal.ca
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