Dementia: orienteering is as good for the body as it is for the brain!

Physical exercise improves some aspects of human cognition, but its intensity may matter. “Previous animal research shows that moderate to vigorous physical activity, which releases greater amounts of lactate, activates more brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the hippocampus and may therefore be optimal for preserving cognitive function. The cognitive benefits of exercise may be even greater when combined with cognitive training,” said researchers from McMaster University (Canada).

63 young adults were either asked to walk or run while sailing or to do exercise only

In a recent study, they wanted to assess the effects of orienteering at different levels of intensity on cognition. The team focused on orienteering because it requires participants to navigate quickly through a series of points on unfamiliar terrain, using only a map and a compass. Through focused attention and inference, they use spatial information to make quick decisions while navigating terrain. This form of navigation uses the hippocampus, an area of ​​the brain more susceptible than others to age-related decline. As a reminder, degeneration in this region can impair learning, memory, and spatial cognition.

For the purposes of the work published in the journal Plos Onethe scientists recruited 63 healthy, active young adults. The participants, who had no orienteering experience, completed a 1.3-km intervention course while navigating and running (80 to 85% of heart rate reserve) or walking (40 to 50% of heart rate reserve). Other volunteers only exercised without navigating. Using blood samples, the authors measured the people’s heart rate and levels of lactate, an indicator of exercise intensity, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a promoter of brain plasticity. They tested memory performance before and after the sessions.

Greater benefits for those who move fast in orienteering

According to the results, both intense physical exercise and navigation increased lactate and brain-derived neurotrophic factor more than walking, with particular benefits for spatial memory in those who orienteered. “High-interference memory improved after the vigorous physical activities, but did not improve after the moderate-intensity intervention. After a single session of high-intensity orienteering, spatial memory improved. This suggests that participating in orienteering, even infrequently, may improve spatial abilities, with the potential to delay their decline with age,” explained authors.

According to the team, the current reliance on GPS could mean that most people are not using their navigation skills, “which could lead to deficits in spatial memory and a reduced sense of direction, which orienteering could revive!”