Individuals who exercised showed greater brain activity
(many physiological reasons)
Please Help Support Alzheimer's Research Today!
Your Alzheimer's donation will help billions live without it.
Physical activity promotes changes in the brain that may protect high-risk individuals against cognitive decline, including development of Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study done at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee J. Carson Smith.
While evidence already shows that physical activity is associated with maintenance of cognitive function across a life span, most of this research has been done with healthy people, without any consideration of their level of risk for Alzheimer's, says Smith.
A team of researchers compared brain activation during memory processing in four separate groups of healthy 65- to 85-years-olds. The level of risk was defined by whether an individual carried the apolipoprotein E-epsilon4 (APOE–ϵ4) allele. Physical activity status was defined by how much and how often the participants reported physical activity (PA). The study divided subjects into Low Risk/Low PA, Low Risk/High PA, High Risk/Low PA and High Risk/High PA.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activation of participants while they performed a mental task involving discriminating among famous people. This test is very useful, says Smith, because it engages a wide network called the semantic memory system, with activation occurring in 15 different functional regions of the brain. "When a person thinks about people – for example, Frank Sinatra or Lady Gaga – that involves several lobes of the brain," explains Smith. Read more: newswise.com
Blueberries linked to improved blood vessel health
Supplementing the diet with wild blueberries may reduce blood pressure, suggests a new study with hypertensive rats. Read more: nutraingredients.com
No comments:
Post a Comment