Hippocampal Volume Essay

The article was written based on a study conducted by Smith J., et al. The article describes how the hippocampus deterioration leads to Alzheimer’s – the disease usually targets the memory of the individual, a function of the hippocampus. Physical activity has been shown to preserve the hippocampus, therefore preserving the memory of the individual. If individuals at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s (individuals that carry the genetic marker, ApoE4, for Alzheimer’s) participate in physical exercise, they can lower their risk of developing the disease. Additionally, the article provided viewers with the information about the sample, method and the results. There were 4 groups of participants who were older adults with normal cognitive functioning, aged 65-89. The groups were classified by low/high Alzheimer’s risk and low/high physical activity rates. The sample’s hippocampus and physical activity levels were tracked over the course of 18 months. Furthermore, Science Daily provided an interview with one of the authors, Smith J. and a professor at University of Pittsburgh. The interviews gave insight into the mind of the author, lending a better perspective on the article and providing direct information to

A study conducted by Harvard Medical School regarding on how could exercise help your brain and what kind of exercise will help your brain to have a better result. In this article, we learn that exercises can help your brain and can also help your memory. The researchers examined different people to try to understand what exercises could help your brain using 30 minutes section. In this study, the researchers randomly evaluate people doing exercises like cardio and compared their memory and their productivity with those that didn’t any type of exercises.

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

In the book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and The Brain by Dr. John J. Ratey, MD (2008), Ratey discuses how exercise can help treat many mood disorders and how it can help strengthen our brains. This book is divided into ten chapters all with five to ten subsections in them. The chapters include: Welcome to the revolution: A Case Study on Exercise and the brain, Learning, Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit, Addiction, Hormonal Changers, Aging, and the Regimen.

In the book Spark, written by Dr. John J. Ratey, he discusses how exercise can positively affect how your brain works. He provides studies and personal experiences to support the claims he makes. I always knew exercise would improve your life but never could have imagined how much it can affect your brain health as well. The chapter I thought spoke the most to me was chapter two, Learning: Grow Your Brain Cells.

Another interesting finding in research, is that of reduced hippocampal volume in depressed patients (Roy & Campbell, 2013).. There are various models accounting for this such as the neurotoxicity hypothesis which states that the reduction in volume occurs because of prolonged stress and hormone levels. The vulnerability hypothesis states that individuals with a familial risk of depression have a significantly smaller hippocampus than controls (Chan et al., 2016). The Chan et al. (2016) study examined individuals with depression and healthy controls. The participants with depression had reduced hippocampal volume when compared to the control group. The researchers posit reduced hippocampal volume as a possible neural marker of depression and the potential for this to be viewed as a vulnerability marker for future depressive episodes (Assareh et al., 2015). It can be theorized that Toni and her family may have reduced volume of the

What is the hippocampus? The hippocampus is the formation of memories and a part of the cerebrum.Some people say if you damage the hippocampus you develop a disease called Antevograde amnesia which is the unibaily to form new memories.It also said there are regions that regulates the emotions.

If I would have a Hippocampus in captivity, it would be a Palomino/orange, because of the colors of the natural environment that I can get. It`s habitat will be reduced to a large aquarium. This change will cause the Hippocampus high levels of stress at the beginning and therefore maybe a low survival rate. That`s why I would have to gain the Hippocampus trust first. The younger it is, the more chance it must adapt because it is not yet accustomed to the immensity of the sea. As a result, those living in a new area can become aggressive, stressed, and this aggressive behavior is the sign that they are looking for a mate with whom they can mate or are simply fighting for Territory and food. So, it is better to have them in

The OED defines multitasking as dealing with more than one task at the same time. The brain, in order to multitask, must receive both actions being performed, and dilute the information before processing. In order to read and listen to something at the same time, for an example, the brain must take the information being read by the eyes and the pulses coming from the ears, and reduce the frequency to keep both tasks going efficiently.

There is ample evidence to demonstrate that through the normal ageing process alterations to the brain in structure and function are directly related to cognitive changes (Glisky, 2007). With an increasing ageing population strategies for prevention of disease and age related cognitive decline are necessary to improve quality of life and reduce the associated healthcare costs (Australian Government Productivity Commission [AGPC], 2013). Physical exercise is known to be crucial in maintaining physiological health; it can also be used as a means of neuroprotection and assist in modifiable risk factors for improved brain health and subsequent cognitive function. This review will critically analyse current research into the effects of exercise

(Ernst, Olson, Pinel, Lam, & Christie, 2006), investigated, antidepressant effects of exercise: Adult neurogenesis refers to the growth of new neurons in the adult brain, initially reports of adult neurogenesis were viewed with a great deal of skepticism, because neurogenic activity had been assumed to be limited to the developmental period; however, the legitimacy of adult neurogenesis in some brain areas has since gained wide acceptance. It is now clear that some regions of the adult mammalian brain contain populations of active progenitor cells that can give rise to new neurons and glia cells. It has been hypothesized that a decrease in the synthesis of new neurons in the adult hippocampus might be linked to major depressive disorder (MDD).

The human brain is constantly changing where many new neurons are formed while others neurons die and new synapses are created while other synapses are removed (Spalding et al., 2013). Some dendrites will withdraw while other dendrites continue branching (Killgore et al., 2013). The processes driving the reshaping of the brain are neuroplasticity and neurogenesis. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s lifelong ability to rewire neural connections to compensate for diseases and injuries or in response to changes in the environment, whereas neurogenesis is the ability to create new neurons and neural connections. This dynamic process of remodeling gray matter is determined mainly by a person’s genetics and can slow down due to age (Denes, 2016). However, recent scientific evidence demonstrates other non-genetic factors that can significantly improve the development of the brain and slow down neurodegeneration (Kays et al., 2012). Physical exercise has always been linked to a person’s physical health, but many recent scientific studies shows physical exercise can also keep a person’s brain sharp. Exercise affects the brain in numerous ways by creating a flourishing environment for brain growth, aiding the release of numerous hormones, and fighting against depression, stress, and anxiety.

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

involved in memory storage. The hippocampus is a place in the brain that is used to

The Erikson et al. article supports the idea that physical exercise helps the brain by improving memory and the size of the hippocampus. Erikson and his colleagues suggested in their study that physical exercise increases the retention of information and improves learning capabilities. The way they measured this was by studying the increased or decreased size of the subject’s hippocampus and levels of BDNF. The control group in this experiment completed stretching/toning exercises while the experimental group did aerobic exercise; the experimental group ended up having a larger hippocampus volume than when starting out, as well as higher levels of BDNF; the