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Walking, BDNF, Hippocampal Size, and Brain Fitness

February 9, 2011 Cognitive abilities, Cognitive Training, exercise, Fitness, Research, Running No Comments
Picture of people running

Maybe I have an obsession. Maybe I’m addicted to exercise. Maybe.  But here it is, once again: Yet another study has shown that aerobic exercise is good for your brain. Not only does aerobic exercise improve cognition (at least 20 or more studies have shown that), but it can help to prevent age-related declines in the size of the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a critically important structure in the brain that is a key part of a circuit that creates new memories.It tends to get smaller with increasing age, but exercise can actually increase its size. The increase in size may be related to increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic growth factor (BDNF), a substance in the body that promotes the growth of new brain cells.

In an article published online on January 31st in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers show again that regular walking can make a difference in cognition. This study is new because the researchers also looked at the volume of the hippocampus with imaging techniques and looked at BDNF levels.

Exercise and BDNF levels may also be related to the way that antidepressants work to reduce depression, and we know that for many individuals exercise improves mood. While we think of the hippocampus most often because of its role in memory, it also has important effects in regulating emotion.

You can find the abstract here. The full article is available to subscribers only.

NY Times, Meditation, and Brain Fitness

January 31, 2011 Cognitive Training, meditation, Mental agility, Mindfulness No Comments

As a follow-up on my last post, interested readers may see that the New York Times reported on January 28th on the study I mentioned in last week’s blog post. It’s actually a post on one of the Times’ own blogs on health and wellness. The tone of the NY Times article is light, as the reporter mentions her husband’s devotion to meditation but goes on to interview Britta Holzel, the lead author of the study mentioned in last week’s post. Perhaps with reporting in the Times,  the study will receive the wider audience it deserves. You can see the article here.

Brain Fitness

Brain Training Study Off the Ground!

computer with apple for teacher

After overcoming a number of obstacles, our study of the effects of cognitive training on fluid intelligence has finally started. We’re enrolling participants from our local Life Long Learning Program, all of whom are 50 years or older. In the study, we are comparing the effects of working memory training …

Changes in Brain Size with Aging

Picture of chimpanzee

Understanding brain aging has to be research priority. The average age of people in the US is increasing. This means that there are more older people at risk for diseases that occur as people get older, such as Alzheimer’s. In people, the size of the brain decreases as they get …

Exercise, Mitochondrial DNA, and Brain Fitness

Mouse on white background

One very influential theory of why our physical and mental functions decline with age holds that changes in our DNA accumulate over time so that out cells don’t work any more. Perhaps the most important part of our DNA exists in every cell in a special part called the mitochondia. …

The Default Mode Network and Brain Fitness

Man sleeping on grass

If brain fitness is more than just trying to avoid memory loss as you get older (and I think it is), then understanding how you think is (I think) critical. Sometimes called metacognition, this means not just thinking, but thinking about thinking. Follow that? Metacognition is the idea that we …

Mindfulness Meditation, Brain Fitness, and Gray Matter

Buddhist monk looking out over the forest

Most people know that the brain is smaller with age, at least in part due to loss of brain cells in parts of the brain related to perception, memory, and executive processes. Anything that can slow down or reverse the process should be of interest to all of us, whatever our age. …

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