As we get older, we tend to place a higher and higher premium on getting healthy, staying energized, and feeling youthful . . .
. . . and one effective way to do that is through regular exercise.
So if that’s the impact a workout routine can have on your body as you age, what can it do for your brain?
This is what Takao Suzuki MD, PhD and researchers at the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology in Japan set out to answer when they examined how exercise can affect the brain structure and cognitive function of older adults with mild cognitive impairment.
The researchers selected participants based on memory impairment and low executive function, and randomized them to either an exercise group or an education control group. The exercise group did aerobic exercise, strength training, and balance training for 90 minutes a day, twice a week, for six months.
The education control group attended two meetings during the 6-month period to discuss health promotion and information about other health issues. The control group received no information about exercise, physical activity, or cognitive health.
To test whether or not exercise had a positive effect on cognitive impairment, researchers used the mini mental state exam and Alzheimer’s disease assessment scale. They also used the logical memory subtest to assess memory, and MRIs to see if there were any changes in brain structure after the study.
Here’s what they found at the end of 6 months.
Participants in the exercise group scored better on the mini mental state exam and logical memory subtest, indicating improvements in their memory and cognitive functioning compared to the control group.
And, MRIs showed less brain atrophy in the exercise group compared to subjects in the control.
These results suggest that exercise could be an effective way to help people regain some of the brain functioning they’ve lost. And, for the estimated 5 million people currently suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, this could be promising research.
Of course, we should keep in mind that this study did not use an active control – and this design does not account for other factors that may have caused the improvements. For instance, perhaps the experimental group got more attention than the control, which could have affected results.
Also, there was a selection bias – researchers eliminated anyone who did not meet specific criteria.
That said, this 6-month study gives us insight into the effect that exercise can have on the brains of people who have experienced some kind of cognitive impairment.
If you’d like to know more, you can find this study in PLOS One.
What are some techniques you’ve used to boost your brain power? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Excercise for the people already suffering from Alzheimer. ?!
3 months after my mum was diagnosed with alzheimer i,she was already sitting in a wheelchair.
My heart breaks in thousends of pieces ,reading that excercise should be good.i will not say that nobody has benifit but for hor how long?
I have the image of her and 2 physiotherapist trying to let her walk between 2 bars.
Tears on her face not understanding what they expected from her,not knowing where she was,looking at me for help !!!! Are we talking of the same disease???
Some members of the family found she must try to go on ,but they never saw her …they were at work.
Me was told ,that even you could have perfect knees ,it could be impossible to walk when there is no connection anymore with your brain.so I think her brain was affected on that place.
It was IMPOSSIBLE to walk!!!!!!I am K.O. Reading this.
Dear Annie,
I don´t know if you are going to be able to read these lines, nevertheless I am going to write them.
Thank you for sharing about your Mum.
Even though your Mum started loosing connections in the brain I can see that your love connection
stills and it is perhaps stronger than ever.
Blessings to you!!!
Live and enjoy a Wonderful day,
Love,
Mauro.
practising CHI NENG-QI GONG every day for at least 1 hour – personal training – and usually teaching it 4 times a week (stronger QI-FIELD in the group) has a tremendous effect on my cells on each and every level: physical, emotional, mental, spiritual. it is a constant waking up, thriving of my potential, the vibration remains high. thus my relationship with myself has finally become a LOVE-relationship, and this is true for relating to everyone else, including animals, plants, stones and everything on planet earth. being tuned in, connected with my inner being, is the most important natural consequence of practising CHI NENG-QI GONG. I LOVE IT !!! very often people ask me: “how come that you look younger and younger getting older every year?” guess, what my answer is!
I have started yoga with the meditation and stay closely connected to family and lots of friends.
I keep a positive attitude.
I have been learning American Sign Language for the last 3 years in an effort to keep my mind active.
It is not set up the way other languages are, with clear grammar rules etc. It is more emotive and expressive but just as difficult.
yes I have found that exercise, where the blood gets flowing and I can feel it in my head, aids and the other thing is music! I took up playing in a band 3 years ago ( I am notw aged 69) & it was a challenge for me. I was learning new stuuff quite intensley for the first two years. i think the music contributed a great deal as well as the mental stimulation
I did watch/ listen to Dr Amen yesterday. I also listened to the cometary from the two professionals whose names escape me at the moment. The young woman made the comment that exercise is fitness for the brain and gave a brief explanation. Thank you for following up on this.
Moshe Feldenkrais taught that every thought is connected to feeling, sensing and moving. Every movement is connected to thought, feeling sensing, etc. One may be in the foreground of our awareness, so we do not notice the others as much. This is very basic to his philosophy for the Feldenkrais Method. The comments I read today and heard yesterday further support what he was teaching forty years ago. That’s impressive, from my perspective.
I suffered a traumatic brain injury while in the middle of a four year Practitioner training. My recovery astounded professionals administering my care throughout the acute phase of the process. I went back and restarted the training and completed the program; assured that if nothing else, it had a huge effect on my recovery. Even more amazing was to watch the progress of a fellow trainee who had his two hemispheres separated in a horrific motorcycle accident. He also went on to become a Practitioner. We were both so delighted to have such progress, we want to share with others how they too can affect their own recovery process.
How did you become a practitioner?
I experienced a series of small strokes over 20 years ago. I was a 99%tile in math and ended up not being able to add 2+2 literally. I could not put a sentence together and what I did get out was pulling through a fog. Could not drive and steps were impossible, etc etc etc. I did not and do not do Western Med, so if I wasn’t going to die, I might as well try to get through this and I ended up doing cross-stitch, hours on end. It literally took me 4 hours the first time I tried to get a stitch from the pattern to the fabric(I never liked preprinted designs) and I literally worked at it and sweat for hours. I also did the kinds of word puzzles that you circle words in the maze of letters and eventually progressed to sudoko. Down the line, I went to the library and had a great teacher that was patient enough to tell me over and over again how to use the word processor. And using spell check and the ability to move words around so I could have a complete sentence, I learned how to communicate again. I did not have the patience to try to write it out or work it out verbally.
Eventually, I enrolled in a Great Books course at the local college as an audit student only I had to agree to participate as a regular student and with the patience of the students, I learned how to pull my thoughts thru the fog to speak. I still have problems if I get too tired. I do better being slightly agitated. There is a window I operate better in. Too little or too much shut me down. I realize writing this that I have worked further out of that. I have only part of my photographic memory back. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. In visualizing my brain, it looked like Swiss Cheese with large holes, and I gradually saw lines going through the holes and ladders and eventually the holes mostly filled in. I still have a few areas or thinks that block me. Depends on my stress level at the time. TODAY, I am on better nutrition, herbs, etc and most people never dream that 20 years ago I was practically a zombie! I am 71 and drug-free!, no HFCS and stay away when possible from GMO.
No microwave cooking, fresh organic when possible and am reducing gluten intake. Hope this helps someone out there. It took years to become “normal” again. I also credit Chi Qong for getting me physically back on my feet. I had to sit in a chair to begin with. I use meditation and Ayurveda also.
Thank you, dear Ruth for this wealth of needed Information: the “Daniel Plan” makes my heart sing!
I will take this message to the Churches in town and to the Senior Centers.
I have lived 74years in this body. The first 36 years more ill than heathy due to war in Germany and early abuse.
Started a new life (after “dying in Germany in the winter 1981/82) after moving to California in spring
of 82.
With regular meditation and light exercise, starting while I’m still under warm covers, I am healthier and happier now, than I have ever been in my youth! I feel SO MUCH GRATITUDE to all the pioneers that have paved the way to a heathier ,happier world. My love and abundant Blessings to YOU and all your guests. Omanasa
I loved yesterday webinar specially the information about the impact of hormones in women’s body. I am in natural hormonal therapy replacement and I plan to share with my doctor (naturopathic doctor) about this webinar.
In regard to the brain and the exercise I am a firm believer that memory and cognitive skills can be improved through exercise . I am 67, and my mom who lives with me is going to turn 90 next June. She was a senior athlete at my country when she was living there. She had pretty bad health, arthritis, bad memory and on and on, she started as a senior athlete at age 60, she had never exercised before, and she started practicing fast waking everyday. She won tons of medals in several competitions during about 20 years, she practiced fast walking every day for a couple of hours with her coach and today even though she does not compete anymore she walks every day for an hour and a half and she has wonderful health, better memory than I have, clarity of mind, energy etc.
I started exercising almost at 60 also (7 year ago) not intensive training like her but I go to the gym every day for an hour and can see the difference in mood and energy when for some reason I don’t exercise.
Thanks for making available the webinars free of charge, I won’t miss one of them.
Gladys
I go to the gym M, W, F…was told not to lift heavy like before! Is this true? Blood pressure spikes or strokes??? Plus told not to run or jog. Bounce the brain around…
Before what, Lloyd? Unless it is an MD telling you that, I’d be VERY skeptical. I lift and run, and yesterday I ran intervals, 30 second max effort, walk for recovery 60 seconds, 8 reps. I try to lift heavy weights, 5 – 8 to exhaustion, 4 – 5 sets. I am 67.
But I’ve exercised most of my life and eat well, all that blah blah stuff. If someone hasn’t, they’d be wise to get a thorough physical and follow the MD’s advice.
Thanks for the eye-opening and insightful seminar with Dr. Amen and the follow-up discussions with Drs. Seigel and McGonigal. Nice to hear feedback from a few different perspectives. I plan on making some healthy changes for myself and my family, as well as educating my clients on the impact nutrition and exercise can have on our brains.
I wrote you and returned an e-mail to you after Dr. Amen’s presentation. There audio problems and I made several comments. I can only assume that you did not receive them. The speak your mind item was not viewed until I had already returned the e-mail to what I assumed you would receive.
I use specific sound frequencies both in the morning and the evening, an hour each time to support my mental states. Tai Chi is also used.
As a Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher, I find this to be a wonderful way to reduce stress, improve health, lift mood, increase creativity, and have a whole lot of fun being with like-minded folks in community.
And, am so greatful to have found you, Dr. Ruth Buczynski, and the NICABM, a wealth of knowledge and a fresh look at the medical world. Here’s to health and abundance for all of us in the 21st century and beyond.
I read a great deal and try to stay connected to friends and neighbours.
I am a gardener and am constantly searching the Internet for information re gardens, flowers, and try and keep my interests alive and kicking!
As there is a great deal of Alzheimers in my background, it is a constant vigil to look for anything that might indicate I am entering a stage of this disease.
Some how ,I was unable to access the free webimar on my IPad yesterday.
Don’t know if I need a different computer program for this.
Will you be repeating this free webimar again.
Thank you.
I purchased a series/program about four months ago.
How do I access it??
Today I started a wheat free diet after reading Wheat Belly.
I am first changing my attitude toward my diet, exercise, new experiences and listening to my heart.
Oh the POSSIBILITIES….
I know what to do.
I recommend the book “Whole Brain Power” by Michael Lavery. Look it up on amazon for a description and read the customer comments. I’ve read it, use it, benefit from it… and its different from the many other books out there, which are excellent in their own right.. It relates to body and mind, and ambi-dexterity.
I love that brain research is validating what so many spiritual traditions and practices and simple intuition tell us about how the mind works and what we need for optimal functioning and happiness. Here are some quick hits on what keeps me happy and at optimal functioning:
As for body and mind practices, I have become a daily meditator over the past 6 years and it is key to my daily functioning and personal evolution. Whether 5 minutes or 30 minutes, I do what I can. Also, silent meditation retreats have allowed for deep insight beyond intellectual knowing that has secured my trust in self and the world, allowing for more acceptance of things as they are and consequently more alignment and flow with reality and the energy of the universe.
I think the word exercise has come to have a connotation of obligation and may not be the best frame to use with clients who are exercise resistant. I simply do what I love and talk about it from that frame: free form dance church on Sunday mornings and a couple Zumba latin dance classes during the week with an instructor who has a shame free sensual and sexual spirit that is contagious. I also bike ride a couple times a week along a beautiful and inspiring cliffside path that follows the Pacific Ocean. And finally, I do 20-minute resistance weight training about 3 times a week at the gym.
I love continuing to learn Spanish. I started well after college, and value intensives as the best and most interesting way to accelerate learning, especially when they take place in countries and cultures new to me.
I started a drum circle about 3 years ago and we get together about once a month at a members’ home and jam, often outside, sometimes on a member’s boat out in the beautiful ocean. Drumming is a meditative experience that requires exquisite listening and interaction while putting the brain in an altered state which can lead to peak experiences of connection and certainly fosters a bond amongst us drummers.
Finally, I will start another movement theatre improv class next week and in the coming months I aim to get back to learning to play ukulele and my first love of melodic music making.
Wow, in writing this, I feel so grateful for my life. Namaste and May you all be happy, Kaleo
As mentioned previously in past comments, I have R/R MS which in some patients can affect memory and their thought process…fortunately this is not my case. In answer to this question, I maintain a healthy and nutricious diet, I do my physio exercises 4-5 times a week, I meditate every morning and read a lot of self help literature. Again, keeping a positive mind set has helped me with my dis ease immensely.
I just saw a Japanese TV program on Alzheimers research. Its clear from various single experimental action specific research programs and other combined experiments that deep sleep is one essential key. Along with word games and math calculation exercises while doing complicated body stepping exercises, these all stimulate a rebuilding and clearing up or out of waste materials from the brain cells. In conclusion it appears that horizontal sleep in dark rooms is a key factor. I can’t give the English translation for the vocabulary sorry. In many cases medication was used as well. In the case of medication the root of the illness needs to be uncovered such as head injuries, form as simple as banging one’s head on the back against a soft wall, or hitting the forehead on a car frame. It can be from various strokes as we know. In recent years in Japan the food has shifted from greens, seaweeds, grain and bean based to beef and pork and fatty foods along with increased sugar and chemicals that the body cannot sort but holds in cell storage, which is seen in the higher cholesterol rates here. Changes to the basic daily diet will improve blood count as well. But it is activity which seems essential for repair, by clearing out of wastes for recovery. let’s sleep on this, lights out now.
I am actively practicing physical exercise (particularly jogging) for the last 15 years. I exercise three times weekly for 90 minutes each time. I am over fifty now. I always feel extremely positive, happy and present right after I finish. That feeling (among other things I do) stays with me and keeps me motivated. This feeling is consistent. Also I feel younger and I do many positive activities reading, learning new things, in addition to the joy I get from help others as part of my profession. I am very passionate about exercising and keeping my body fit and my brain consciously and consistently present at any give moment. Consistency is paramount in exercising body and mind.
Interest report. Appreciate hearing about.
I would also have appreciated if this phrase – “Participants in the exercise group scored better…” had given me some indication of the effect size. Consider who you’re writing for!
And…while you’re at it, knowing that the original report is in PLOS is excellent, but if you’re doing that, why not simply provide a link? Busy professionals…remember?
Thanks!
Indeed it would be easyer to have the link.
It is always good to check things before believing everything…
I was surprised that the brain age NIcamb mentioned before was a nintendo game that was made by prof K .you can google more..and it is difficult to say when you read more,how neutral the study was.
In general ,I always hope that a study is neutral…and that the intentions to do a research are right not only to sell a product .(maybe that is to naive)
When I just was diagnosed with having a cancervirus ,I read an article in a newspaper that the university of a city nearby my home was searching people for a study on people having such virus/cancer.What a coincidence so I immediatly made a phone call with that doctor of that study.I had the virus not the cancer so that study was not for me.I was surprised to hear that it was to test a product I could sell in my supermarket.
So when i told that story to my doctor and he said. Ooo Mr. Yellow ( not real name) again ,he try to find something medical to sell his product….before he tried with the same product to find something elder
People will have benifits.The elder homes off the city were contacted to be help with the study,for that same product.So.I understand that when you have monney enough,you go to a university and hope they will find something that your product sells better.
Martial arts and runing are my fixes. Even on winter evenings when I would rather sit in or go to bed with a book and a cup of tea I manage to get out and have a run or go to my class: I always feel better afterwards. Try running in the dark – it’s a new craze here in Ireland and I don’t why but it is so relaxing. Just choose safe paths. I was struck by Kelly McGonnigle’s comments about managing our hormones naturally first – I always enjoy hearing from Kelly – she is articulate and seems balanced between intuition and science. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to hear from Dr. Amen.
To boost my brain power and vitality, I cycle daily and do yoga and dance at least once a week. In the weekends I cycle with my family to the countryside. I find water relaxing, so when possible, I canoe and dive into the lake or sea. If there is snow, I love xountry skiing and snow shoeing.
Especially after dancing with a group and improvising to music, I feel at the same time relaxed and invigorated – thus and in balance. I also travel, go to art exhibitions and read poetry.
As a function of age I find that finding the balance between doing too little and too much is as important as at any age.
I have often been disdainful of exercise, never having experienced the endorphin high that people speak of, but the dinosaur brain theory certainly is a powerful incentive to get out there and exercise!!!!
There were many, many more useful stories and insights from both the main speaker and discussers afterwards. I am MASSIVELY grateful for this opportunity for information gathering. Thank you .x