Effects Of Exercise On Brain Health

Participation in physical activity has been shown to have many health benefits for older adults; this study does not provide strong support that it protects against cognitive decline. Reports have been made that physical activity may help guard against stroke and coronary heart disease, both of which may be associated with the development of dementia. Some studies were either limited in their scope or had short follow-up times. In all they find that for older adults, physical activity alone may not protect against cognitive decline. (By Charnicia E. Huggins: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/exerciseforseniors.html)

Cavanaugh and Blanchard-Fields (2015) state that there is research showing how brain plasticity can be enhanced through aerobic exercise (p.51). It is important that adults be active in their lives. A 30-minute walk or some type of physical activity will benefit them as the age. The text mentions a study done by Erickson and his colleagues in 2009 where they studied the effect of aerobic exercise on the hippocampus. They found that due to aerobic exercise it produced greater volume in the hippocampus. This is significant because the hippocampus is the part of the brain that is responsible for memory, emotions, and spatial functioning. The body does not only need physical activities to produce healthier cognitive functioning but also nutrients. The text identifies three nutrient biomarker patterns that are significant on the aging brain. These nutrients are vitamin B, C,D, and E, omega-3, and trans fat. the foods that belong to these nutrients are beneficial to the brain. Older adults should make an effort to include these nutrients into their diets. positive impacts these nutrients make are better cognitive functioning and greater brain

This is quite an impressive quality that the human brain undergoes and in order to make perfect use of this quality, the scientist is trying to make connections and find out if there are any environmental factors that can enhance neuroplasticity. One of the factors is ‘Exercise’ and in this paper, we are going to investigate the impact that exercise may have on neuroplasticity. We have been able to find that

An increasing body of evidence verifies the influence of exercise on energy and function of the central nervous system (CNS) and how it can even help against neurological disorders. According to these studies and reports, exercise has the astonishing ability to boost mental health, and modern efforts are being dedicated to use this capability to reduce cognitive degeneration in aging and psychiatric illnesses. In this paper, recent studies are examined in humans and animals demonstrating the ability of exercise to uphold cognitive health across a lifespan. Accompanied with the goal to develop a complete explanation of how the effects of exercise in the brain correlates to the results provided from human studies. Improvements in neuroimaging have been vital in recording the relationship between the intellectual benefit and action of particular neural networks in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex involving individuals who practice exercise. Current innovations in the imaging of

Little information is known about the use of treadmill running to attenuate or reverse the cognitive decline due to Alzheimer Disease. The study reviewed in this paper by Jinkyung et. al set out to determine if exercise can prevent cognitive decline in the early and late stages of Alzheimer Disease. Benefits to using exercise as a non-pharmacological method of offsetting the effects of this disease include little to no side effects for the patient; low cost to patient and health care system; exercise may have a preventative factor to Alzheimer Disease, unlike pharmacological treatments. Previous studies have reviewed voluntary wheel running in triple transgenic mice (3xTG-AD), the current study is the first to examine the effects of treadmill running in the 3xTG-AD mice.

The articles by Erikson et al., Gatz, Korol et al., and Draganski et al. explore the concept of increased physical activity and/or mental activity having effects on the cognitive function and development or deterioration of the brain as we age. Although I agree that physical exercise is critical in increasing cognitive function because of the health benefits it provides, as well as the increased blood flow and circulation throughout the body, I ultimately believe that a healthy brain is not achieved solely by physical exercise or mental exercise, but both. I think there is a link between physical and mental exercise, and that the combination of these two activities creates higher cognitive functioning of the mind as well as the body. The mind and body come together and meet to make an overall healthy individual.

These issues make the search for new ways to induce neuroplasticity an important step towards developing better and easier to implement intervention protocols aiming to improve motor function. For example, Singh and colleagues (Singh et al., 2014) showed that a single session of lower limb aerobic exercise could increase intracortical facilitation (ICF) and reduce short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) in upper limb muscles, suggesting exercise could aid adaptive changes associate with experience. Beneficial effects of exercise on motor learning have been confirmed by recent studies using healthy young participants (Statton et al., 2015). Together, these results indicate that besides the well-known effects on cardiovascular health, exercise may also prime plastic changes in the brain and, as a result, boost motor function (e.g. motor learning). Nonetheless, it remains to be tested whether improvements in motor function depend on the success of the exercise protocol to modulate intracortical excitability in motor areas as a causal relationship between intracortical changes and motor learning has not been established in this

In the past decade there has been increasing empirical research that examine cognitive training and the connection it has to stave off or slow the progression of dementia. Dementia is considered a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, which influences neural pruning within the brain structures of elderly individuals, leading to the decrease of cognitive abilities (Alzheimer´s Association Report, 2013); the onset of dementia can occur years before the diagnosis, therefore significant damage can have already occurred within the brain neural pathways (Blennow et al, 2006). Early prevention and reducing further progression of neural degeneration; involves the intervention of cognitive training and mental exercises; which can inhibit neuropathological

“If it’s safe for you, engage in cardiovascular exercise to elevate your heart rate. This will increase the blood flow to your brain and body, providing additional nourishment while reducing potential dementia risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol” (Alzheimer's Association 1). There have been many claims about exercise being correlated to better work and brain productivity. To prove these claims, one must perform an experiment through the scientific method. In this particular instance, the scientific method starts with one asking the question, “Do people who exercise have better brain performance than those who don’t?” Afterwards, a hypothesis is made. One theory states that there is a strong correlation between

Rolland, Abellan Van Kan, and Vellas (2008) published a systematic review of articles that looked into the effect of physical activity on Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology and symptomology. The researchers (2008) searched three separate databases, and gathered articles from 1966 to 2007. Retrospective studies were scarcely included in the review since “they are subject to important methodological drawbacks such as survival

In the article “Physical activity and brain plasticity in late adulthood” by Kirk I. Erickson, PhD, Ariel G. Gildengers, MD and Meryl A Butters, PhD provides insight to research on the effects of physical activity on the human brain in late adulthood. The article provides and overview of cognitive functioning in older adults. The purpose of the research in the article is to demonstrate how physical activity and other risk factors such as education, obesity, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and depression can contribute to the cognitive impairment of the brain thus increasing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular problems, and cancer in people over the age of 65. The research methods and design for the experiments provide insight to how researchers utilize biological measurements, observations of the human brain and the experimental research method. The method for each of the experiments are based on more than one experiment and validity of the outcome provides insight to basically the same outcome at the end of the article. To understand the underlying research methods it is important for this summary to include all of the different experiments and their outcomes.

One of the side effects of the normal aging process on the brain is the dilapidation of cerebral white matter, which according to previous studies correlates to poorer cognitive functioning. This research experiment is an in-depth study of the neurological components of aging in terms of white matter integrity, working memory, and cognitive function in relation to aerobic exercise. A team of scientists from various universities conducted this exercise intervention study and it spans a twelve-month period where participants were subject to a series of cognitive tests and digital imaging scans in addition to a newly implemented exercise program for one whole year. The main objective of the study was to assess and calculate the percentage (if any) of influence aerobic exercise has on cerebral white matter durability and corresponding cognitive functions in comparison to nonaerobic exercise. The researchers hypothesized to find a positive correlation between aerobic exercise and white matter integrity; they hoped to map these changes in particular regions throughout the brain (hypothetically) in an anterior-posterior descent. In order to assess the diffusion of white matter through specific regions of interest (ROI) in the brain measures of fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusion (RD), and axial diffusion (AD) were taken from each participant throughout the course of the experiment using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). A DTI maps the structural properties of

The review article by Jackson et al. discusses how engaging in physical activity, cognitive activity, and following a healthy diet can promote brain health. These lifestyle factors contribute to increasing reserve - the capacity of the brain to maintain function in the face of acute injury, degenerative impairment etc. Studies in both humans and animal models have demonstrated that physical activity has direct effects on brain health. For example, physical exercise in rodents increases neurogenesis in hippocampal dentate gyrus and induces angiogenesis in the cortex and other brain regions. Consistent with the studies using rodents, higher cardiorespiratory fitness levels in adults were linked to better performance in hippocampal mediated tasks

As previously stated, the brain is extremely complex and there are countless functions that it serves. In order to keep these functions normal and persistent, it is critical to have a constant routine (exercising regularly in terms of aiding learning and memorization). Authors of Exercise and time-dependent benefits to learning and memory, Nicole C. Berchtold, Nicholas Castello, and Carl W. Cotman, have studied and researched the broad scope of exercise benefits on learning and memory. Altogether, this article prominently discusses the affects of general exercise in relation to cognitive function and brain- derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). They discovered that “BDNF protein levels are elevated after 3 wk of exercise” (Berchtold 593). Even though these necessary proteins for cognitive functions are not immediate, it does not take too long to get them going. In one of their experiments, they also tested what where to happen if an individual where to stop exercising for longer periods of time, disrupting their normal exercise routine. They found that “beneficial effects of exercise on memory (passive avoidance task) are reversible, and are lost by 6 weeks after exercise participation has ended (detraining)” (Berchtold 588). Generally, this is a common effect that occurs when people disrupt their daily, normal routines. In relation to exercise activity and the brain, chemicals are sent to the hippocampus. The more one exercises, the more regulated the chemicals going to the

New health recommendations suggest that exercise can improve memory skills and delay the symptoms of dementia. According to the American Academy of Neurology, the latest guidelines confirm that regular exercise improves both the body and the mind. This is particularly helpful to older adults and the elderly.