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Moderate aerobic exercise in older adults
shown to improve memory
Study led by Pitt, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign shows brain hippocampus can
be modified
PITTSBURGH, PA., and CHAMPAIGN, ILL.—A new
study shows that one year of moderate
physical exercise can increase the size of
the brain's hippocampus in older adults,
leading to an improvement in spatial memory.
The project—conducted by researchers at the
University of Pittsburgh, University of
Illinois, Rice University, and Ohio State
University—is considered the first study of
its kind focusing on older adults who are
already experiencing atrophy of the
hippocampus, the brain structure involved in
all forms of memory formation.
The study, funded through the National
Institute on Aging, appears in the Jan. 31 Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The scientists recruited 120 sedentary older
people without dementia and randomly placed
them in one of two groups—those who began an
exercise regimen of walking around a track
for 40 minutes a day, three days a week, or
those limited to stretching and toning
exercises.
Magnetic resonance images were collected
before the intervention, after six months,
and at the end of the one-year study.
The aerobic exercise group demonstrated an
increase in volume of the left and right
hippocampus of 2.12 percent and 1.97
percent, respectively.
The same regions of the brain in those who
did stretching exercises decreased in volume
by 1.40 and 1.43 percent, respectively.
Spatial memory tests were conducted for all
participants at the three intervals. Those
in the aerobic exercise group showed
improved memory function, when measured
against their performance at the start of
the study, an improvement associated with
the increased size of the hippocampus.
The authors also examined several biomarkers
associated with brain health, including
brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a
small molecule that is involved in learning
and memory.
They found that the increases in hippocampal
size were associated with increased amounts
of BDNF.
"We think of the atrophy of the hippocampus in
later life as almost inevitable," said Kirk
Erickson, professor of psychology at the
University of Pittsburgh and the paper's
lead author.
"But we've shown that even moderate exercise
for one year can increase the size of that
structure. The brain at that stage remains
modifiable."
"The results of our study are particularly
interesting in that they suggest that even
modest amounts of exercise by sedentary
older adults can lead to substantial
improvements in memory and brain health,"
said Art
Kramer, director of the Beckman
Institute at the University of Illinois and
the senior author.
"Such improvements have important
implications for the health of our citizens
and the expanding population of older adults
worldwide."
