Build a Brain You Can Be Proud Of

“Our results suggest that for older people, getting regular quite intensive exercise may help them keep their cognitive abilities longer,” senior author, Clinton B. Wright, MD, University of Miami, commented to Medscape Medical News.

The study that Dr. Wright was referring to was published online in Neurology on March 23, 2016. In the study of physical activity, which included a diverse racial US population, “individuals who reported low levels of leisure time physical activity in their mid-60’s showed greater cognitive decline when assessed several years later compared with those who exercised to a moderate or intense level. The difference in cognitive decline between the two groups was equal to 10 years of aging”.

As Medscape reported, “the latest findings come from new analyses of the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS), a population-based prospective study originally designed to evaluate the effects of various risk factors on the incidence of stroke in a racially/ethnically diverse community cohort”.

Researchers from the University of Miami, Florida, and Columbia University, New York, re-examined the data on various risk factors and how they relate to later cognitive function.

“Our results suggest that for older people, getting regular quite intensive exercise may help them keep their cognitive abilities longer,” senior author, Clinton B. Wright, MD, University of Miami, commented to Medscape Medical News.

Dr. Wright emphasized that they showed a difference between intensive exercise, such as running or swimming, and low-level activity such as walking. “To be included in the moderate to intensive group, individuals had to exert themselves — i.e., undergo a form of activity that raised their heart rate for more than just a few minutes several times a week.”

He noted that similar findings have been reported before but mostly in mainly white populations. “Our study involved a cohort from Manhattan, which is a real melting pot in terms of race and ethnicity. It is reassuring that we have now found supporting evidence for a positive effect of exercise on later cognitive health in such a diverse population.”

Since you are a FineWiner, would you mind sharing how you find motivation to get out and exercise? We all know how easy it is to put it off until tomorrow. How have you had success?