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In the News, Summer 2023: Exercise Training in Older Adults Boosts Cognitive Function
A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports showed that a regular walking program strengthens functional connections within and between core brain networks that control cognitive function. Researchers examined the effects of a 12-week walking intervention on functional connectivity and cognitive ability in older adults with normal brain function or mild cognitive impairment.
Thirty-three people between the ages of 71 and 85 participated in training sessions in which they walked on a treadmill for up to 30 minutes per day, four days a week. Before and after the 12-week intervention, they underwent an assessment that included word association, auditory verbal learning, and narrative memory tests, as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
After the intervention, researchers observed significant improvement in immediate recall and other cognitive abilities, as well as stronger, more synchronized brain activity. According to principal investigator J. Carson Smith, “These results provide even more hope that exercise may be useful as a way to prevent or help stabilize people with mild cognitive impairment and maybe, over the long term, delay their conversion to Alzheimer’s dementia.”
Sources: UMD study finds brain connectivity, memory improves in older adults after walking. University of Maryland, May 23, 2023. sph.umd.edu/news/umd-study-finds-brain-connectivity-memory-improves-older-adults-after-walking.
Won J, Nielson KA, Smith JC. Large-scale network connectivity and cognitive function changes after exercise training in older adults with intact cognition and mild cognitive impairment. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports, 2023; doi:10.3233/ADR-220062.
Published in the Journal of Health and Healing™
Summer 2023 | Volume 47, Number 2
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