Brain tissue structure could explain link between fitness and memory

  • Brain scans of healthy young adults found that higher aerobic fitness was associated with greater hippocampal elasticity, which was a better predictor of cognitive performance than hippocampal volume.

A new MRI technique has revealed that it is the structural integrity of the hippocampus more than its size that reflects fitness and correlates with cognitive performance.

Research has focused on hippocampal size because it is easier to measure, and in children and older adults there are strong correlations between hippocampal size and memory. But this is less true for healthy, young adults. This new, subtler, technique reveals that something else is going on — something that has probably been masked by the effects of size in older adults (whose hippocampi are shrinking) and younger children (whose brains are still growing).

The technique measures viscoelasticity. If the hippocampus is more elastic, memory is better. When it’s more viscous, memory is worse. Those with better aerobic fitness had better hippocampal elasticity.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-05/uoia-bts050117.php

Reference: 

Related News

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 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.

An examination of the brains of three groups of deceased individuals (13 cognitively normal, aged 20-66; 16 non-demented older adults, aged 70-99; 21 individuals with Alzheimer's, aged 60-95) has found that amyloid starts to accumulate and clump inside basal

A year-long study involving young adults has compared those who engaged in either tai chi or brisk walking or no exercise. Those who practiced tai chi had a significantly higher number of CD 34+ cells compared with those in the other groups.

I’ve reported often on the perils of multitasking. Here is yet another one, with an intriguing new finding: it seems that the people who multitask the most are those least capable of doing so!

I’ve spoken before about the effects of motivation on test performance.

I have reported previously on research suggesting that rapamycin, a bacterial product first isolated from soil on Easter Island and used to help transplant patients prevent organ rejection, might improve learning and memory.

I’ve talked before about Dr Berman’s research into Attention Restoration Theory, which proposes that people concentrate better after nature walks or even just looking at nature scenes.

Is there, or is there not, a gender gap in mathematics performance? And if there is, is it biological or cultural?

Math-anxiety can greatly lower performance on math problems, but just because you suffer from math-anxiety doesn’t mean you’re necessarily going to perform badly.

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.