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exercise may improve brain health in older adults

studies indicate exercise may help improve the the links in the nervous system between separate brain areas, improving brain health.

by canadian society for exercise physiology
published apr 11, 2022
read time 2 minute read
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read time 2 minute read
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exercise may improve brain health in older adults
by nick bray current research suggests that exercise can improve brain health, even as we age. aging causes neurodegeneration, in which cells in the central nervous system die, resulting in a decline in mental abilities. but why this happens is not known.
to find out, researchers evaluated the effect of exercise, with and without other care measures, on the links in the nervous system among separate brain areas — referred to as functional brain network connectivity (fbnc). fbnc enables people to carry out cognitive (thinking) functions, to process information and can indicate a change in the brain long before memory loss is evident.
the study looked at research articles published to date on older adults who were either cognitively healthy or impaired. the researchers evaluated the impact of exercise on physical and cognitive function, and reviewed the relationship between fbnc and physical and cognitive function in these older adults.

reviewing the impact of exercise on brain health

a literature search yielded 13 relevant studies. eight of those focused on studies of cognitively healthy older adults, including 480 participants with an average age of 60 to 73 years, depending on the study. the studies ranged in size from 11 to 53 participants per group.
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five of those articles focused on studies of older adults with cognitive problems, including 203 participants ranging in age from approximately 64 to 75 years, with 5 to 22 participants per group. aerobic exercise was the most common activity used in the studies, with durations ranging from six weeks to one year and including 60 to 300 minutes of exercise per week.

exercise improved various aspects of cognitive and physical performance

fbnc increased in 10 out of 12 of the study groups, which may indicate improved brain function. on the other hand, control groups showed no change in brain function over the same time period. exercise improved various aspects of cognitive and physical performance, while control groups showed no change or declined over the same period. only one study showed a relationship between changes in fbnc and physical and cognitive function. what this means for cognitive and physical functioning remains unclear. a lack of specific findings is probably due to differences in the way the studies were conducted, the exercises carried out, and the brain networks examined.

the bottom line

exercise may be an effective way of improving brain health in older adults. it might even help delay the neurodegeneration that accompanies aging. but more research is needed.
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nick bray is with the department of kinesiology at western university, london, ontario. this article summarizes the systematic review bray nw, pieruccini-faria f, bartha r, doherty tj, nagamatsu ls, montero-odasso m. the effect of physical exercise on functional brain network connectivity in older adults with and without cognitive impairment. a systematic review. mechanisms of ageing and development. 2021 apr 19;196:111493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mad.2021.111493. this summary was written for the canadian society for exercise physiology and has been reviewed by the csep knowledge translation committee.

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