In recent times so much emphasis has been placed on staying healthy that it seems to be a highly sought after topic. Who doesn’t want to stay active and healthy? But when it comes to older adults, it might as well be the need of the hour rather than wishful thinking. Staying active ensures not only a healthy body but also a healthy brain.

Exercise is known to be a good antidote to depression. It releases chemicals in the brain called endorphins, which improves mood. Studies have shown that exercise can make you happy, increase stamina, and boost self-esteem.

In the elderly, memory loss is associated with shrinking of a part of the brain, known as the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that helps form memories. Recent studies show that regular aerobic exercise may be helpful in slowing or even reversing age-related memory loss in older adults. This happens as a result of an increase in the size of the hippocampus as a result of exercise.

The researchers found that one year of moderate aerobic exercise, such as walking, increased hippocampal volume by nearly 2%, resulting in an effective reversal of age-related hippocampal shrinkage within one to two years.

Experts believe that hippocampal shrinkage is inevitable in old age, but believe that the brain is modifiable even at this stage. They are sure that even a year of moderate exercise can increase the hippocampal six.

exercise and the brain

In the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers randomly assigned 120 adults ages 55 to 80 into one of two groups. One group followed an aerobic exercise program consisting of walking around a track for 40 minutes a day, three days a week; the other group was assigned limited exercise restricted to stretching and toning exercises.

One year later, brain scans performed at the start of the study and those performed after one year showed that the right and left sides of the hippocampus increased by 2.12% and 1.97%, respectively, in the aerobic exercise group. . However, when studying the brain scans it was found that the right and left sides of the hippocampus decreased in volume in the other group by 1.40% and 1.43%, respectively.

Some other tests of spatial memory function also showed marked improvements in the aerobic exercise group associated with this increase in hippocampal volume. The researchers also found increases in several markers related to brain health, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which resulted in a corresponding increase with increase in hippocampal volume.

The results of this case study are particularly interesting in that they suggest that even a small amount of exercise by older adults can lead to substantial improvements in memory and brain health. Such improvements may have important implications for the health of older people and the ever-expanding older population worldwide.”