“Exercise is good for your brain.” You’ve probably heard that a couple times before.
But what kind of exercise is best? Should you do some light jogging, or lift weights? What effect do different kinds of exercises have on your brain?
Led by graduate student Lindsay Nagamatsu, a team of researchers at the University of British Columbia tried to solve the problem.
They recruited 86 women with mild cognitive impairment between 70 and 80 years old, all of whom lived in housing communities. The women were randomly assigned to three different exercise programs: one group did twice-weekly resistance training, another did twice-weekly aerobic training, and the control group did twice-weekly balance and tone training.
The exercise programs lasted 6 months. At the beginning and the end of the program, researchers gave the women three short tests to measure their cognitive performance, balance and mobility, and cardiovascular capacity.
To measure brain plasticity, researchers performed fMRI scans of 22 of the women.
How did their results pan out? Well, both treatment groups saw benefits, but on different scales.
The women who did resistance training significantly improved their attention and associative memory compared to the control. They also showed functional changes in three regions of the cortex – right lingual, occipital-fusiform gyri, and right frontal pole.
I’d expect that any exercise is good for the brain on some level, and we have lots of evidence that aerobic training helps the brain. But according to this study, resistance training might also be an effective brain booster.
It is important to note, however, that this study focused on a vulnerable population – older adults who already had a high risk of dementia. So we have to be careful about generalizing its results to other populations. In the future, I’d like to see studies that address the effect of various types of exercise with a wider audience.
So what does this mean for you?
Well, if you’re trying to make exercise part of your brain health routine, you might want to add some resistance training to your workout. (And as always, consult your health professional before beginning or modifying any exercise program.)
The full study was published in Vol. 172, Issue 8 of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
If you want more practical ways to build brain health, take a look at our webinar series on Brain Science. It’s full of hands-on solutions that can work for any client.
Have you suggested exercise as an intervention for your clients? Has it been effective? Please share your experience in the comments below.
I started to do alot of research on natural treatments and came across Parkinson’s Herbal Treatment from VineHealth Center. Few months into the treatment my symptoms including tremors, tiredness and muscle weakness improved dramatically. (Go to vinehealthcenter. com), I have regained mobility and I have also resumed exercising to strengthen muscles
I works since 25 years with this focus that movement is basic for our Brain health.
Karen Peterson shows on her webside many diffferent ways to improve different levels for elderly population with Brain Gym Movements.
A strong case for strength training for seniors can be made without the additional benefit of decreasing cognitive decline. Hopefully additional studies reinforce the findings of this study and provide another reason to start strength training. We train several clients in their eighties. Our oldest was 95 yo.
Great article supporting exercise for brain health. Interesting how resistance training did for brain cognition. Would be interesting to have this study done again in a larger population with varied stages of cognitive impairment. Thanks for sharing this.
I learned so much in the hour presentation and would like to address the brain/glucose issue. I found it fascinating that only a few hours later on facebook a friend posted a short article on “bananas”. As well as other great benefits it is an excellent food source to maintain glucose levels for the body. I love it that when I learn something new and life changing it can be supported by other avenues of learning and exhanging of ideas.
I am always so impressed with how well done your seminars are Ruth. I appreciate the speakers you bring in, your guided and thoughtful questions (always guided toward “What is the take away?” and how can we use these ideas to support clients) and the session following the presentation .
I missed a little bit of the the beginning of the presentation by Kelly,however, I do think that “exercise” is typically left out of many counseling plans. Obviously there is a relationship and correlation between exercise and how the brain and consequently , decision making, can change. It seems, “smart,” therefore , to always think about how to guide a client to include exercise in their goals for getting well, feeling better or “becoming that best self!”
I also liked Joan Borysenko’s comments about strengthening the part of your mind that enables you to look at consequences, short term and long term. There were SO many take aways in this past session; those relating to guilt and shame and Joan’s ideas about normalizing the feelings of guilt and shame first. The whole discussion about sugar was also interesting. I couldn’t help but think that some of the discussion related to “self forgiveness” reminded me of what the Weight Watcher’s program promotes; the ideas that you can go ahead and “indulge” or have a “treat” but don’t stay in the place of guilt that you had that candy bar. Instead, have it or part of it and then move back into the plan that supports your goal.
The thought of willpower being “depletable” was an interesting one. Definitely when we are fatigued, that sense of willpower does decrease, therefore, the temptations seem more inticing and decisions are not always made with the long term thought in mind. Consciously thinking, therefore, about what to do to “keep” a store of willpower ready, does then create a sense of “energy management.” Also keeping in mind a “steady state of energies.”
It was all very informative. Always appreciate being able to glean the invaluable parts of these presentations.
~ Ann Kent
So incredible clear the way that Kelly explained what happens in our brains.
I am very pleased with the practical explications and excercises that we can do for ourselves and to give to our clients.
Through the “brain seminars” I understand more about how we function and every time if I look at my notes it sinks in on a deeper level.
elizabeth reed