Resistance training improves attention in older women

A Finnish study involving over 1000 older adults suggests that a counselling program can prevent cognitive decline even among those with the Alzheimer’s gene.

The study involved 1,109 older adults (aged 60-77) of whom 362 were carriers of the APOE4 gene. Some of the participants received regular lifestyle counselling (general health advice), while the rest received “enhanced” lifestyle counselling, involving nutrition counselling, physical and cognitive exercises, and support in managing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

A randomized clinical trial involving 103 teenage athletes who sustained concussions while playing sports found that those who underwent a supervised, aerobic exercise program took significantly less time to recover compared to those who instead engaged in mild stretching.

Data from 196,383 older adults (60+; mean age 64) in the UK Biobank found that a healthy lifestyle was associated with lower dementia risk regardless of genes.

Both an unhealthy lifestyle and high genetic risk were associated with higher dementia risk.

Data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, in which nearly 4,000 older adults (60+) had their walking speed assessed on two occasions in 2002-2003 and in 2004-2005, those with a slower walking speed were more likely to develop dementia in the next 10 years. Those who experienced a faster decline in walking speed over the two-year period were also more likely to develop dementia.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-03/ags-oaw032318.php

A study of 105 female college students found that those with the highest levels of stored iron had the highest grades. Fitness was also a factor, but while the effect of fitness was greater overall than the impact of iron status, both factors together had an even greater effect. The difference between fit women with normal iron levels and unfit women who were iron deficient was sufficiently large to to drop or increase a letter grade.

The association between the measure of fitness (peak oxygen intake) and grade was mediated by working memory.

Memories are made through a synaptic-strengthening process called long-term potentiation (LTP). Prolonged stress weakens the synapses, which decreases LTP, thus having a negative effect on memory. A mouse study found that when exercise co-occurs with stress, LTP levels are not decreased, but remain normal. The exercising but stressed mice also performed as well on the memory tests as the non-stressed mice, and better than both groups of sedentary mice.

Running is mentioned specifically because the exercise the mice took involved running wheels.

A study in which 64 sedentary older adults (aged 60-88) participated in a 12-week exercise program found that those who engaged in high-intensity interval training (HIIT) saw an improvement of up to 30% in memory performance while participants who engaged in moderate-intensity aerobic exercise saw no improvement, on average.

Moreover, improvements in fitness levels directly correlated with improvement in memory performance.

Participants participated in three sessions per week. A control group engaged in stretching only.