Aerobic exercises help to “pump up” the brain
Walking, running, swimming, playing badminton, soccer or volleyball, Cycling — all these exciting studies literally help the brain to grow, preventing the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, scientists have found.
Jog four times a week, or another type of aerobic exercise help the brain not only increase in volume due to the growth of gray matter, but also to develop cognitive function.
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The study involved 35 men and women with mild cognitive impairment, considered an intermediate stage between normal disorders associated with aging, and more serious diseases, such as dementia.
The researchers appointed 16 volunteers (mean age 63 years) aerobic exercise. The rest 19 participants (mean age 67 years) were “prescribed” stretching exercises of the muscles.
Before you begin physical activity, the volunteers scanned in a magnetic resonance tomograph. After a six-month investigation scan again repeated. Throughout the entire time participants were tested to assess how their training is correlated with cognitive activity, reports Live Science.
After six months of physical activity, the volume of gray matter, responsible for information processing and muscle control, increased in the brain of all participants, but the groups engaged in aerobic exercise, the percentage of growth of nerve fibers was higher.
In addition, volunteers from the aerobic group showed improvement in Executive functions, including skills such as the ability to plan, solve problems, and to selectively pay attention to desired stimuli.
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In the group of “stretching” was a decline in the volume of nerve fibers in the area, called the radiant crown (corona radiata), which distributes information on all areas of the brain responsible for thinking and perception.
The results of the study showed that aerobic exercise is more effective than anaerobic help patients suffering from cognitive function disorders, to maintain and even to increase the volume of gray matter.
Given that people suffering from mild cognitive impairment, are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, which is now only in the United States affects more than 5 million residents, the findings obtained through the study, especially important, the authors of scientific work.