Want To Boost Memory In Old Age? Exercise, Says Study

The study published in the journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,’ states that one year of moderate aerobic exercise can increase the size of the hippocampus and reverse age-related memory loss in elderly people.

Hippocampus is a major component of the brain that plays an important role in memory. It is the first region of the brain to suffer damage or shrink in old age, leading to memory problems like Alzheimer’s and dementia.

120 older adults studied
In a first-of-its-kind study, the researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Illinois, Rice University and Ohio State tested 120 older adults.

The study participants were divided in two groups.

Sixty of them followed aerobic exercise regimen that involved walking around a track for 40 minutes a day for three days in a weeks.

The scans showed that those who followed the aerobics program, their right side and left sides of the hippocampus increased by 2.12 percent and 1.97 percent respectively.

The other 60 indulged in stretching and toning exercises for the same time period.

Brisk walking increases volume of hippocampus
Brain scans or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were taken taken at the start of the study, 6 months after the exercise program, and 1 year later.

The scans showed that those who followed the aerobics program, their right side and left sides of the hippocampus increased by 2.12 percent and 1.97 percent respectively.

On the other side, the same regions decreased by 1.40 percent and 1.43 percent in the group that just did stretching exercise.

The researchers also noticed that those who had an increase in hippocampus volume also showed improvement in the tests of spatial memory function.

Moderate exercise in old age beneficial
The findings suggest that exercise in old age is not futile. In fact, it is possible to ward off age-related memory decline with only moderate exercise.

Kirk Erickson, professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, and lead author of the study stated, We think that the atrophy of the hippocampus in later life is almost inevitable.

“But we’ve shown that even moderate exercise for one year can increase the size of that structure. The brain at that stage remains modifiable.

The researchers also analyzed the effect of aerobics exercise on other parts of the brain like the caudate nucleus, which also shrinks with age. But, no change was seen.

“This suggests the effect is not just a widespread increase in brain mass, but it’s relatively specific to the hippocampus, added Erickson.

Memory Exercises