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Strength Training and Executive Functions

February 23, 2010 Brain Fitness, Living Longer and Better, Memory, Physical fitness, Research, exercise No Comments

Aerobic exercise has been shown many times to improve cognitive function, but a recent study shows that strength training can improve executive functions. Executive functions are important because they are a mental ability that helps us make decisions and do several things at once (like driving).

A recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that strength training can improve executive functions. Executive functions are important because they are a mental ability that helps us make decisions and do several things at once (like driving). Executive functions get worse as we get older, so finding a way to maintain or improve them may be a way to keep your brain fit as you get older. This study evaluated the effects of resistance training compared to balance and tone training on older women’s abilities on several cognitive measures. The researchers evaluated whether weight training (generally thought to improve muscular strength) or balance training (thought to improve balance, but also such things as walking ability and risk of falls) also had an effect on participants’ mental functioning.

Compared to the balance and toning group, the strength training group showed small but significant gains in their performance on the Stroop Test. The Stroop measures a person’s ability to deal with conflicting stimuli – someone’s tendency to read a word (a habit) compared to their ability to resist the habit and say the color of the type used to print the word. Performance on this measure is often interpreted as an aspect of executive functions, a group of mental abilities that includes such things as coordinating two mental activities at once (think about driving).

The study only included older women (average age about 70 years), so it’s not clear how strength training would affect younger persons’ or men’s functioning. On the other hand, the study adds to the growing body of research that shows that strength training may be important for  maintaining your brain fitness.

Reference:

Liu-Ambrose T et al. Resistance training and executive functions. Archives of Internal Medicine, 170, 170-178.

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