Do this 3 days a week and you may increase the size of your brain

If you are a senior citizen and intent on improving your memory, you may be interested in the results of a recent study that associated improvements in memory with moderate exercise.

The study – led by Dr. Kirk Erickson from the University of Pittsburgh and Dr. Arthur Kramer from the University of Illinois, and supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) – revealed that walking (at a brisk pace) can increase the size of the brain.  Specifically, the hippocampus, an area linked to mammalian memory development.

What causes us to lose our memory as we age?  The hippocampus is a “major component of the brain . . . and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory and spatial navigation. “ You can read the Wikipedia article on the hippocampus here; it is actually quite detailed.
  

The study examined 120 inactive older adults.  Half of the participants were asked to walk for a period of 40 minutes a day, 3 days a week.  The second half of participants were instructed to in weight train and stretch.
 

One year later, each participant was analyzed via MRI.  The group that engaged in the brisk walk for 3 days per week showed an average 2% increase in hippocampus volume, whereas the other group averaged a 1.4% decrease in volume.

What does this mean? "We think of the atrophy of the hippocampus in later life as almost inevitable . . . [but] we've shown that even moderate exercise for one year can increase the size of that structure,” explained one of the researchers behind the study.   For the article in its entirety, view it here. 
Photographer: Idea go

Evan H. Farr on Google +

Walking speed may be used for predicting health, survival for elderly

Could walking speed analysis, also referred to as "gait speed," be a worthy tool for predicting remaining years of life? Inexpensive and simplistic, gait speed is being touted in a recent study that suggests there is a correlation between gait speed and longevity. The study recently appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Some seniors are accustomed to routine analysis of their blood pressure, BMI, consumption habits, genetic factors, and more. If the study is correct, then some seniors may want to consider monitoring their own walking speed. After all, it’d be a much less intrusive, costly, or bothersome method…with immediate feedback!

The usefulness of assessing gait speed is intuitive in nature: “[L]ife expectancy based on age and sex alone provides limited information because survival is also influenced by health and functional abilities," noted the JAMA study.

The question that comes to mind is: can “health and functional abilities” be accurately measured by gait speed?

The University of Pittsburgh conducted the study “to assess the association of gait speed with survival in older adults and to determine the degree to which gait speed explains variability in survival after accounting for age and sex,” reported by Senior Journal. This was not just a run-of-the-mill study, as it included a combined pool of 9 smaller studies and a whopping 34,485 participants. “Gait speeds of 1.0 meter (3.3 feet)/second or higher consistently demonstrated survival that was longer than expected by age and sex alone."

The most conclusive data corresponded to older individuals, but the researchers are quick to point out that gait speed is connected to likelihood of survival at all ages and in both sexes.

The gist of the study is that gait speeds correlate to survival rates which were longer than otherwise predicted by analysis of merely age and sex as the sole factors.

Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Evan H. Farr on Google +