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Posted on Dec 14, 2016, 6 a.m.
Physical exercise can improve brain perfusion as well as certain memory skills, among men and women in their 60s and 70s.
Previous studies report that aerobic exercise in young adults can induce vascular plasticity in the hippocampus, a critical region for recall and recognition memory. Researchers from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) completed a three-month long study of 40 men and women, ages 60 to 77 years: about half of the study participants exercised regularly on a treadmill for 3 months, and the other individuals merely performed muscle relaxation sessions. The group using the treadmill displayed improvements in cerebral blood flow and visual memory. Writing that: “The changes in fitness, hippocampal perfusion and volume were positively related to changes in recognition memory and early recall for complex spatial objects,” the study authors submit that: “These findings indicate a preserved capacity of the aging human hippocampus for functionally relevant vascular plasticity.”
Previous studies report that aerobic exercise in young adults can induce vascular plasticity in the hippocampus, a critical region for recall and recognition memory. Researchers from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) completed a three-month long study of 40 men and women, ages 60 to 77 years: about half of the study participants exercised regularly on a treadmill for 3 months, and the other individuals merely performed muscle relaxation sessions. The group using the treadmill displayed improvements in cerebral blood flow and visual memory. Writing that: “The changes in fitness, hippocampal perfusion and volume were positively related to changes in recognition memory and early recall for complex spatial objects,” the study authors submit that: “These findings indicate a preserved capacity of the aging human hippocampus for functionally relevant vascular plasticity.”
