Right now, everything is pushing us to get up from our couch and get active. While a Quebec study has just shown that sport during pregnancy muscle babies’ brainsit seems that this virtuous circle is found at all ages: physical exercise also trains the brainadults over 50 years old. This hypothesis is confirmed by an American study which specifies that the best anti-aging activity for the body and the brain would be the gym.
Researchers from the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas encourage people over 50 to exercise not only to maintain their physical condition but above all to stimulate their memory and more broadly their brain.
With age, the activity of the hippocampus, the region involved in the formation and retrieval of memories, tends to deteriorate. Learning and recording information becomes more difficult.
Another symptom of aging is that the proteins and hormones that protect and repair brain cells and stimulate neuronal growth tend to decline with age. Cognitive decline would be accompanied by lower brain blood supply, according to several studies.
A better irrigated brain with the gym
Our American researchers are convinced that physical activity can slow down this phenomenon. To find out, sedentary adults between the ages of 57 and 75 were divided into two groups. The former participated in gym workouts on an elliptical trainer or treadmill, three times a week for twelve weeks.
Findings published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience show that the gym group improved their memory and increased blood flow to the hippocampus, the region affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
“This study highlights the enormous benefit of fitness exercises on memory and confirms that it can reduce the biological and cognitive consequences of aging,” concludes Sandra Bond Chapman, the researcher behind the study.
