Cognitive Training, Gait Speed, and Brain Fitness

An article in this weeks’ Journal of Gerontology, provides some interesting information on how cognitive training can actually affect someone’s physical status. The article, titled “Effect of Cognitive Remediation on Gait in Sedentary Seniors,” reports on a small group of elders who completed 8 weeks of computer-based cognitive training. The authors found that the elders who completed cognitive training actually showed an increase in walking speed (even though that wasn’t part of the training).

This is significant for several reasons. First, it suggests that a mental activity can have positive effects on someone’s physical status. Said this way, this isn’t all that surprising — we’ve known for many years that relaxation can help to control blood pressure, and that stress management training can help to reduce the risks of heart attacks. The leap to something as basic as walking speed, however, is new.

Second, the study suggests (at least to me) that the link between mental and physical decline may work both ways. We’ve known for some time that exercise, for example, can have positive effects on cognition. This study suggests that the reverse may be true: that cognition can have a positive effect on physical status.

One more reason for all of us to continue to be both mentally and physically active.

Reference:

Verghese J, et al.(2010). Effect of cognitive remediation on gait in sedentary seniors. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 65A, 1338-1343.

4 Myths About the Brain and Aging

When I give talks about brain fitness, I often start off by telling the audience that it wasn’t that long ago that all of us in professional schools were taught that we are all born with a certain number of brain cells and that they start dying off as soon as we are born.

Then I talk about the exciting research in the past few decades that shows that new nerve cells can grow in parts of the brain critical for learning and memory. Instead of relentless decline toward death, the reality may be a continuing cycle of change and renewal throughout life.

That has led me to think of 4 particularly important myths about the brain and aging:

• The number one myth is that brain aging is strictly a biological process that is controlled by a person’s genetic makeup and that can’t be affected. The brain, like the rest of the body, is an organ that exists in a dynamic relation with the environment. The brain is affected, for better or worse, by what see, hear, think, and do, as well as by diet, exercise, stress, and sleep.
• Another myth that arises from the number one myth is the idea that there’s nothing we can do about age-related changes in how our brain function. Although the study of interventions to affect cognitive aging is still new, the evidence is pretty clear that exercise, diet, and mental and social activity can have potent effects on how your brain ages.
• As much as I enjoy crossword puzzles, I think one of the most pernicious myths about brain aging is the idea that simply doing intellectually-stimulating activities is enough. A related myth is that simply completing a course of computer-based cognitive training will take care of age-related changes. Although there’s even less hard data on combinations of treatment, the most successful interventions are multifactorial and include lifestyle changes as well as mentally stimulating activities.
• Finally, one of the most important myths about the brain and aging is that all changes in the brain and mental functioning are bad. An important line of research in cognitive aging shows that some mental functions are better or different with age. Older persons, for example, may make decisions better. They may be better able to discern patterns in a difficult situation, and may have superior knowledge about people and how they react.