Importance of exercise for Alzheimer's gene carriers

January, 2011

A small study suggests that physical activity may be of greater benefit to those carrying the Alzheimer’s gene in protecting against cognitive decline.

A study involving 68 healthy older adults (65-85) has compared brain activity among four groups, determined whether or not they carry the Alzheimer’s gene ApoE4 and whether their physical activity is reported to be high or low. The participants performed a task involving the discrimination of famous people, which engages 15 different functional regions of the brain. Among those carrying the gene, those with higher physical activity showed greater activation in many regions than those who were sedentary. Moreover, physically active people with the gene had greater brain activity than physically active people without the gene.

And adding to the evidence supporting the potential for exercise to lower the risk of dementia, another recent study has found that after ten years exercise (in terms of the number of different types of exercises performed and number of exercise sessions lasting at least 20 minutes) was inversely associated with the onset of cognitive impairment. The study used data from the National Long Term Care Survey.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-11/uow--ssi111810.php

Reference:

[2037] Smith, J. Carson, Nielson K. A., Woodard J. L., Seidenberg M., Durgerian S., Antuono P., et al.
(2011). Interactive effects of physical activity and APOE-[epsilon]4 on BOLD semantic memory activation in healthy elders.
NeuroImage. 54(1), 635 - 644.

[1986] Jedrziewski, K. M., Ewbank D. C., Wang H., & Trojanowski J. Q.
(2010). Exercise and cognition: Results from the National Long Term Care Survey.
Alzheimer's and Dementia. 6(6), 448 - 455.

seniors

Exercise

genes

Alzheimers

Related News

For the brain, iron levels may need to be just right

Iron deficiency is the world's single most common nutrient deficiency, and a well-known cause of impaired cognitive, language, and motor development. Many countries therefore routinely supplement infant foods with iron.

Why a select group of seniors retain their cognitive abilities

A certain level of mental decline in the senior years is regarded as normal, but some fortunate few don’t suffer from any decline at all.

Memory genes vary in protecting against age-related cognitive decline

Previous research has found that carriers of the so-called

Obesity linked to better cognition in post-menopausal women

Obesity has been linked to cognitive decline, but a new study involving 300 post-menopausal women has found that higher BMI was associated with higher cognitive scores.

How neighborhood status affects cognitive function in older adults

In the last five years, three studies have linked lower neighborhood socioeconomic status to lower cognitive function in older adults. Neighborhood has also been linked to self-rated health, cardiovascular disease, and mortality.

Which 'Senior moments' may signal mental decline

A telephone survey of around 17,000 older women (average age 74), which included questions about memory lapses plus standard cognitive tests, found that getting lost in familiar neighborhoods was highly associated with cognitive impairment that might indicate Alzheimer’s.

Timing of estrogen therapy is crucial

The very large and long-running Women's Health Initiative study surprised everyone when it produced its finding that hormone therapy generally increased rather than decreased stroke risk as well as other health problems.

When age helps decision making

Research has shown that younger adults are better decision makers than older adults — a curious result. A new study tried to capture more ‘real-world’ decision-making, by requiring participants to evaluate each result in order to strategize the next choice.

Memory fitness program improves memory abilities of oldest adults

In a study involving 115 seniors (average age 81), those who participated in a six-week, 12-session memory training program significantly improved their verbal memory.

Errorless learning not always best for older brains

Following a 1994 study that found that errorless learning was better than trial-and-error learning for amnesic patients and older adults, errorless learning has been widely adopted in the rehabilitation industry.

Pages