summary: Researchers have found a protective effect of physical and social activity on brain health in older adults.
Researchers analyzed data from a 12-year longitudinal study and focused on the entorhinal cortex, which is essential for learning and memory and vulnerable in Alzheimer’s disease. They found that increased physical and social activity slowed the thinning of the entorhinal cortex over seven years, which in turn slowed memory decline.
This study highlights the importance of an active lifestyle in maintaining brain health and cognitive function in old age.
Important facts:
- Physical and social activity slows the thinning of the entorhinal cortex, a brain region important for memory.
- This study links an active lifestyle to reduced memory decline in older adults.
- Higher initial memory ability correlates with slower cognitive decline, supporting the concept of “cognitive reserve.”
sauce: University of Zurich
Physical exercise is associated with many positive aspects of health. Numerous studies have shown that regular physical activity protects against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, and obesity.
But how do different leisure activities (physical, social, and cognitive) affect brain health in old age?
A team of researchers from the University Research Priority Program “Dynamics of Healthy Aging” and the University of Zurich Center for Health and Longevity (UZH) decided to investigate this question.
To achieve this goal, they reviewed data from a comprehensive longitudinal study of brain development and behavior in old age. This longitudinal study was started 12 years ago by his UZH professor emeritus, Lutz Jahnke, who is still overseeing the project with co-director Susan Melilla.
The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship between entorhinal cortex thickness, memory, and leisure activities over a seven-year period in cognitively healthy adults aged 65 and older.
Exercise and social activity slow neurodegeneration
Approximately 3.5 millimeters thick, the entorhinal cortex is part of the cerebral cortex that lies medial to the temporal lobe and plays an important role in learning and memory. It is also one of the brain regions affected in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease development.
“Our findings show that people who were more physically and socially active at the start of the study had less decline in entorhinal cortex thickness over seven years,” says neuropsychologist Janke. he says.
Researchers also found that the thickness of the entorhinal cortex is closely related to memory performance. The less the thickness of this brain structure decreases over the course of the study, the less memory will decline.
“Physical exercise and an active social life with friends and family are therefore important for brain health and can protect against neurodegeneration later in life,” says Janke.
The brain can be trained just like muscles
It was also shown that the higher the memory ability at the beginning of the study, the less the decline in memory ability over the course of the study.
“These findings support the idea that humans have a ‘cognitive reserve’ and that the brain can be trained throughout life, like a muscle to counter age-related decline,” says Pascal Deschwanden. says Isabel Hotz, one of the two lead authors.
In other words, it’s beneficial to be physically, mentally, and socially active throughout your life, including in later life.
Fortunately, many older people in Switzerland already seem to live by this creed. According to the Swiss Health Survey conducted by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office in 2022, around three-quarters of people aged 65 and over get the recommended amount of physical exercise in their daily lives. .
About this aging and neurology research news
author: kurt bodenmuller
sauce: University of Zurich
contact: Kurt Bodenmuller – University of Zurich
image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Open access.
“Associations between white matter hyperintensity, fissures, entorhinal cortex thickness, declarative memory and leisure activities in cognitively healthy older adults: a 7-year studyWritten by Lutz Janke et al. neuroimage
abstract
Associations between white matter hyperintensity, fissures, entorhinal cortex thickness, declarative memory and leisure activities in cognitively healthy older adults: a 7-year study
introduction
Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) is a growing epidemic that affects brain health and cognition. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the interplay between cSVD, brain atrophy, and cognition in healthy aging is of critical importance.
In this study, we investigated white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume, number of fissures, entorhinal cortex (EC) thickness, and declarative memory in cognitively healthy older adults while controlling for potential confounders. We investigated the relationship between the two over a seven-year period.
To date, there is no cure for cSVD, suggesting the neuroprotective potential of an active lifestyle. However, supporting evidence is scant. Therefore, the second aim of this study is to examine the relationship between leisure activities, cSVD, EC thickness, and declarative memory.
method
We used a longitudinal dataset consisting of structural MRI and psychometric cognitive performance at five measurement time points and survey data collected from a sample of healthy older adults (baseline). N = 231, age range: 64-87 years, age M = 70.8 years), to investigate the association between cSVD MRI markers, EC thickness, and verbal and graphic memory abilities.
Additionally, they calculated physical, social, and cognitive leisure activity scores from survey-based assessments and examined their associations with brain structure and declarative memory. To provide more accurate estimates of trajectories and cross-domain correlations, we applied a latent growth curve model that controls for potential confounders.
result
Less age-related thinning on the right side (β = 0.92, p<.05) and left EC (β = 0.82, p<.05) was associated with less decline in declarative memory. And thicker EC at baseline predicted less declarative memory loss (β = 0.54, p<.05). high physical standard level (β = 0.24, p<.05), social leisure activities (β = 0.27, p<.01) predicted less thinning of the right EC. No associations were found between WMH or laxness and declarative memory or between leisure activities and declarative memory.
Higher education was initially associated with more physical activity (β = 0.16, p<.05) and better declarative memory (β = 0.23, p<.001), but declined more sharply for participants with higher education (β = –.35, p<.05). Obese participants had decreased physical fitness (β = –.18, p<.01) and socially active (β = –.13; p<.05), left EC was thinner (β = –.14, p<.05) at baseline.
antihypertensive drug use (β = –.26, p<.05), and light to moderate alcohol intake (β = –.40, p<.001) was associated with a smaller increase in the number of hiatus, whereas a larger increase in the number of hiatus was observed in current smokers (β = 0.30, p<.05).
conclusion
Our results suggest a complex relationship between cSVD MRI markers (total WMH, number of hiatus, left and right EC thickness), declarative memory, and confounding factors such as antihypertensive medications, obesity, and leisure activities. Masu.
Therefore, leisure activities and good cognitive reserve counteract this neurodegeneration. Several confounding factors appear to contribute to the extent or progression/decrease of cSVD and require further investigation in the future.
Since there is still no cure for cSVD, modifiable confounders need to be studied more intensively in the future to preserve or promote brain health and, by extension, cognitive performance in older adults.
