Growing Research Finds Physical and Mental 'Workouts' Can Keep You Sharp in Later Life

The March 1-3 conference, "Does Mental and Physical Activity Promote Cognitive Vitality in Late Life?" was organized by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and made possible by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

Numerous animal and human studies have found that physical exercise and intellectually stimulating activities can promote lifelong "cognitive vitality" in a variety of ways. Among the findings experts discussed during the conference:
* Regular physical exercise appears to help preserve cognitive function via several mechanisms -- by spurring the creation of new blood vessels in the brain and new connections among brain cells (or "neurons"), and by encouraging the creation of neurons. Though prevailing wisdom had been that neurogenesis, or the creation of new brain cells, ended after adolescence, more recent studies have shown that certain regions of the brain create new neurons even in adulthood.
* Both physical exercise and activities that are intellectually simulating may help the brain "stay young" by prompting the production of certain hormones and neurochemicals, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a neurochemical that plays a key role in learning and memory.
* In mice that are genetically engineered to develop a disease similar to Alzheimer's, living in a stimulating environment and running regularly have been shown to both improve learning and decrease the build-up of beta-amyloid, a protein that appears to contribute to the creation of
brain lesions characteristic of the disease.
* In the watershed Nurses' Health Study, women 70 and older who exercised regularly -- for instance, by walking at a leisurely pace for 90 minutes per week -- ran a lower risk of cognitive impairment than those who were inactive.
* Several large studies have found that older persons who often engage in intellectually stimulating activities -- including social activities, which involve intellectual effort -- are less likely to develop Alzheimer's than those who do so less frequently.
* Cognitive stimulation in childhood and middle age may also lessen the odds of developing late-life dementia.
* "Mental exercise programs" developed to provide cognitive stimulation appear to enhance cognitive function in older adults.

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