Exercise’s role in brain aging
There is growing evidence that aerobic exercise may attenuate progression of dementia and cognitive decline through two plausible biological pathways: (1) reduction of cerebrovascular risk factors; and (2) facilitation of neuroprotective neurotrophic factors and neural plasticity in an aging human brain.
Though the benefits of regular physical activity for brain aging are well established, few studies have directly examined how one bout of physical activity impacts cognition and memory in older adults. That is why Voss and her team at the University of Iowa recruited 34 people aged 60s-80s who weren’t regularly active; then asked them to ride stationary bikes for 20 minutes prior to performing various tests designed to assess processing speed, working memory capacity and hippocampal volume.
Researchers discovered that one session of high-intensity cardio exercise, like jogging or cycling, resulted in an increase in hippocampal volume – an area involved with verbal memory and learning. By contrast, lower intensity workouts such as resistance training or balance exercises did not produce the same benefits.
The study also demonstrated that even one bout of intense exercise can result in improved connectivity between medial temporal lobe and parietal and prefrontal cortices, two regions involved with memory processing. While these improvements are temporary, they serve as evidence that even short bouts of intense exercise may begin reversing age-related decline in memory and processing speed.