Exercise

How physical exercise and fitness improves your brain function

Weak handgrip may warn of cognitive impairment

  • A large study finds weaker handgrip strength is associated with a progressively greater risk of developing severe cognitive impairment.
  • Another large long-running study similarly finds slow walking speeds and weak grip strength is associated with a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
  • Weaker grip strength, in those older than 65, was also linked to a higher risk of stroke.

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.

Moreover, there was a dose-response type relationship, with every 5-kilogram (11-pound) reduction in handgrip strength being associated with a 10% greater risk of cognitive impairment and an 18% greater risk of severe cognitive impairment.

Handgrip strength was assessed with a hand-held dynamometer, and cognitive function with a modified Mini-Mental State Examination.

It’s suggested that reduced grip strength is associated with neural degeneration, but that maintaining your physical strength will protect you.

Data from the very long-running Framingham Heart Study also found that those who had slow walking speeds and weak grip strength had a significantly greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in the next 11 years. Additionally, those older than 65 years had a higher risk of stroke if their hand grip strength was weak.

Participants were aged 35-84. Walking speed was assessed by walking a certain distance as fast as they could without running.

Reference: 

McGrath, R., Robinson-Lane, S. G., Cook, S., Clark, B. C., Herrmann, S., O’Connor, M. L., & Hackney, K. J. (2019). Handgrip Strength Is Associated with Poorer Cognitive Functioning in Aging Americans. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 70(4), 1187–1196. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-190042

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Getting fit, getting enough iron boosts women students' grades

A study of 105 female college students found that those with the highest levels of stored iron had the highest grades. Fitness was also a factor, but while the effect of fitness was greater overall than the impact of iron status, both factors together had an even greater effect. The difference between fit women with normal iron levels and unfit women who were iron deficient was sufficiently large to to drop or increase a letter grade.

The association between the measure of fitness (peak oxygen intake) and grade was mediated by working memory.

Reference: 

Scott, S. P., Souza, M. J. D., Koehler, K., & Murray-Kolb, L. E. (2017). Combined Iron Deficiency and Low Aerobic Fitness Doubly Burden Academic Performance among Women Attending University. The Journal of Nutrition, 147(1), 104–109. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.116.240192

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Higher aerobic fitness levels linked to fewer word failures in older adults

  • A small study found that aerobic fitness was linked to the frequency of tip-of-the-tongue occurrences in older adults.

A small UK study involving 28 healthy older adults (20 women with average age 70; 8 men with average age 67), has found that those with higher levels of aerobic fitness experienced fewer language failures such as 'tip-of-the-tongue' states.

The association between the frequency of tip-of-the-tongue occurrences (TOTs) and aerobic fitness levels existed even when age and vocabulary size was accounted for. Education level didn't affect TOTs, but only a few of the participants hadn't gone to university, so the study wasn't really in a position to test this out.

However, the larger the vocabulary for older adults, the less likely they were to have TOTs. Older adults also had more TOTs over longer words.

The test involved a 'definition filling task', in which they were asked to name famous people, such as authors, politicians and actors, based on 20 questions about them. They were also given the definitions of 20 'low frequency' and 20 'easy' words and asked whether they knew the word relating to the definition.

Aerobic fitness was assessed by a static bike cycling test.

The study included 27 young adults as a control group, to provide a comparison with older adults' language abilities, confirming that older adults did indeed have more TOTs. The young adults' fitness was not tested. All participants were monolingual.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/uob-haf042618.php

Reference: 

Segaert et al (2018). Higher physical fitness levels are associated with less language decline in healthy ageing. Scientific Reports. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-24972-1

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Better physical fitness and lower aortic stiffness key to slower brain aging

  • A study found that physical fitness & arterial stiffness accounted for a third of the cognitive differences between older adults, completely erasing age as a factor.

An Australian study involving 102 older adults (60-90) has concluded that physical fitness and arterial stiffness account for a great deal of age-related memory decline.

The study that, while both physical fitness and aortic stiffness were associated with spatial working memory performance, the two factors affected cognition independently. More importantly, and surprisingly, statistical modelling found that, taking BMI and gender into account, fitness and aortic stiffness together explained a third (33%) of the individual differences in spatial working memory — with age no longer predicting any of the differences.

While physical fitness didn’t seem to affect central arterial stiffness, the researchers point out that only current fitness was assessed and long term fitness might be a better predictor of central arterial stiffness.

It's also worth noting that only one cognitive measure was used. However, this particular measure should be a good one for assessing cognition untainted by the benefits of experience — a purer measure of the ability to process information, as it were.

It would also be interesting to extend the comparison to younger adults. I hope future research will explore these aspects.

Nevertheless, the idea that age-related cognitive decline might be largely, or even entirely, accounted for by one's physical fitness and the state of one's arteries, is an immensely appealing one.

Fitness was assessed with the Six-Minute Walk test which involved participants walking back and forth between two markers placed 10 metres apart for six minutes. Only participants who completed the full six minutes were included in the analysis.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/ip-bpf061118.php

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Moving more in old age may protect brain from dementia

  • A long-running study found older adults who moved more were less likely to develop dementia, even when they had brain pathologies characteristic of dementia.

A long-running study involving 454 older adults who were given physical exams and cognitive tests every year for 20 years has found that those who moved more than average maintained more of their cognitive skills than people who were less active than average, even if they have brain lesions or biomarkers linked to dementia.

Participants wore an activity monitor for a week, an average of two years before death. The range of physical activity was extreme, with the average being 155,000 counts/day and the standard deviation being 116,000 counts. Daily physical activity was affected by age (unsurprisingly) and education.

For every increase in physical activity by one standard deviation, participants were 31% less likely to develop dementia. For every increase in motor ability by one standard deviation, participants were 55% less likely to develop dementia.

191 had dementia and 263 did not. The participants donated their brains for research upon their deaths. The average age at death was 91 years. Almost all (95.6%) showed at least one brain pathology, with 85% having at least two, and the average being three. Pathologies include Alzheimer's pathology, Lewy Bodies, nigral neuronal loss, TDP-43, hippocampal sclerosis, micro- and macro-infarcts, atherosclerosis, arteriolosclerosis, and cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/rumc-mmi011119.php

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/16/activity-sharpens-even-dementia-affected-brains-report-suggests

Reference: 

Buchman, Aron S. et al. 2019. Physical activity, common brain pathologies, and cognition in community-dwelling older adults. Neurology, 92 (8), e811-e822; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000006954

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Slower walking speeds linked to dementia risk

  • A large, long-running study has found older adults with a slower walking speed were more likely to develop dementia in the next decade.
  • Another long-running study has found that slowing over 14 years was linked to brain atrophy in the hippocampus, and cognitive impairment.

Data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, in which nearly 4,000 older adults (60+) had their walking speed assessed on two occasions in 2002-2003 and in 2004-2005, those with a slower walking speed were more likely to develop dementia in the next 10 years. Those who experienced a faster decline in walking speed over the two-year period were also more likely to develop dementia.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-03/ags-oaw032318.php

A long-running study involving 175 older adults (70-79) found that slowing in walking speed over a 14-year period was associated with cognitive impairment, and with shrinkage of the right hippocampus specifically.

Gait slowing over an extended period of time was a stronger predictor of cognitive decline than slowing at a single time point. All the participants slowed over time, but those who slowed by 0.1 seconds more per year than their peers were 47% more likely to develop cognitive impairment.

The finding held even when the researchers took into account slowing due to muscle weakness, knee pain and diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension.

Typically, a slowing gait is seen as a physical issue, but doctors should consider that there may be a brain pathology driving it.

http://www.futurity.org/gait-hippocampus-brains-dementia-1472892/

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Physical activity linked to better brain health & cognition in older adults

  • A study found that older adults remembered names better after moderately intense exercise.
  • A large, long-running study found that each hour of light physical activity per week was linked to less brain atrophy.
  • Similarly, another long-running study reported that higher levels of lifestyle physical activity were associated with less brain atrophy.

Exercise activates brain networks in older adults

A study involving healthy older adults (55-85) found that recall was better after a session of moderately intense exercise, and several crucial brain regions showed greater activation.

The recall task involved identifying famous names and non famous ones. The test occurred 30 minutes after the exercise session (using an exercise bike) and on a separate day after a period of rest.

Brain activation while correctly remembering names was significantly greater in the hippocampus, middle frontal gyrus, inferior temporal gryus, middle temporal gyrus, and fusiform gyrus.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/uom-eam042419.php

Light, physical activity reduces brain aging

Data from the Framingham Heart Study has found that each additional hour spent in light-intensity physical activity was associated with higher brain volumes, equivalent to approximately 1.1 years less brain aging.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/buso-lpa041719.php

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/apr/19/household-chores-keep-brain-young-research-suggests

Everyday physical activities linked to more gray matter in brains of older adults

Data from 262 older adults (mean age 81) in the long-running Rush's Memory and Aging Project, found that higher levels of lifestyle physical activity (e.g., house cleaning, dog-walking, gardening, as well as exercise) are associated with more gray matter.

Participants wore an accelerometer continuously for seven to ten days, in order to accurately measure the frequency, duration and intensity of a participant's activities.

The association between physical activity and gray matter volumes remained after further controlling for age, gender, education levels, body mass index and symptoms of depression.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-02/rumc-eaa021318.php

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Brain benefits from single workouts predict long-term benefits from exercise

  • A small study has shown that those who show the biggest brain benefits after a single exercise session also show the biggest long-term gains from a training program.

A small pilot study, in which participants had brain scans and working memory tests before and after single sessions of light and moderate intensity exercise and after a 12-week long training program, has shown that immediate cognitive effects from exercise mirror long-term ones. Participants who saw the biggest improvements in cognition and functional brain connectivity after single sessions of moderate-intensity physical activity also showed the biggest long-term gains in cognition and connectivity.

The finding suggests that the brain changes observed after a single workout study can be a biomarker of sorts for long-term training.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/cns-eau032219.php

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The findings were presented by Michelle Voss at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) in San Francisco, March 23-26, 2019.

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Mouse studies link physical exercise to increased synapses

  • A mouse study has found that a hormone released during physical activity protects synapses in the hippocampus.
  • Another mouse study found that short bursts of exercise promotes an increase in synapses in the hippocampus.

How exercise may protect against Alzheimer's

Previous research uncovered a hormone called irisin that is released into the circulation during physical activity, and appeared to play a role in energy metabolism. Mice studies have now found that irisin protected memory and synapses in the brain — disabling irisin in the hippocampus resulted in synapses and memory weakening; boosting brain levels of irisin improved synapses and memory.

Mice who swam nearly every day for five weeks didn’t develop memory impairment despite getting infusions of beta amyloid — however, blocking irisin completely eliminated the benefits of swimming.

Samples from brain banks have confirmed that irisin is present in the human hippocampus and that hippocampal levels of the hormone are reduced in those with Alzheimer's.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-02/cuim-hem020819.php

Short bouts of exercise prime the brain for learning

A mouse study found that short-term bursts of exercise (equivalent to a game of pickup basketball, or 4,000 steps) activated a gene (Mtss1L) that promotes an increase in synapses in the hippocampus — which primes the brain for learning.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/ohs-sra070219.php

Reference: 

Lourenco, M. V., Frozza, R. L., de Freitas, G. B., Zhang, H., Kincheski, G. C., Ribeiro, F. C., … De Felice, F. G. (2019). Exercise-linked FNDC5/irisin rescues synaptic plasticity and memory defects in Alzheimer’s models. Nature Medicine, 25(1), 165–175. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-018-0275-4

Chatzi, C., Zhang, Y., Hendricks, W. D., Chen, Y., Schnell, E., Goodman, R. H., & Westbrook, G. L. (2019). Exercise-induced enhancement of synaptic function triggered by the inverse BAR protein, Mtss1L. ELife, 8, e45920. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.45920

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Healthy lifestyle associated with lower dementia risk regardless of genes

  • A very large study found that an unhealthy lifestyle and high genetic risk were independently associated with higher dementia risk, and a healthy lifestyle reduced the risk for those at high genetic risk.

Data from 196,383 older adults (60+; mean age 64) in the UK Biobank found that a healthy lifestyle was associated with lower dementia risk regardless of genes.

Both an unhealthy lifestyle and high genetic risk were associated with higher dementia risk.

Lifestyle factors included smoking, physical activity, diet, and alcohol consumption. Bearing in mind that lifestyle factors were self-reported, 68.1% followed a healthy lifestyle, 23.6% were intermediate, and 8.2% followed an unhealthy lifestyle. Regarding genes, 20% were at high risk, 60% were intermediate, and 20% were at low risk.

Of those at high genetic risk, 1.23% developed dementia in the 8-year period (remember that these are people who are still relatively — the average age at study end would still only be 72), compared with 0.63% of those at low genetic risk. Of those at high genetic risk plus an unhealthy lifestyle, 1.78% developed dementia compared to 0.56% of those at low risk with a healthy lifestyle. Among those who had a high genetic risk but a healthy lifestyle, 1.13% developed dementia in the period.

I trust that these people will continue to be followed — it will be very interesting to see the statistics in another 10 years.

There were 1,769 new cases of dementia during the 8-year study period.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/jn-ihl071219.php

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jul/14/healthy-lifestyle-may-cut-risk-of-dementia-regardless-of-genes

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