Cognitive Neuroscience Society

The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • Annual Meeting
        • General Information
          • What to Expect at CNS 2023
          • CNS 2023 Mobile App
          • CNS 2023 Giveaway
          • CNS 2023 Giveaway Winners
          • Accessibility at CNS
          • General Information
          • Code of Conduct
          • Dates and Deadlines
          • Hotel Reservations
          • Poster Guidelines
          • Poster Printing Discount
          • Annual Meeting Workshop Policy & Application
          • Exhibit with us!
        • Program
          • Thank you to our Partners
          • CNS 2023 Program Booklet
          • Schedule Overview
          • Program-at-a-Glance
          • CNS 30th Anniversary Dance Party
          • Keynote Address
          • George A. Miller Awardee
          • Distinguished Career Contributions Awardee
          • Young Investigator Awardees
          • CNS at 30: Perspectives on the Roots, Present, and Future of Cognitive Neuroscience
          • Invited-Symposium Sessions
          • Symposium Sessions
          • Data Blitz Session Schedule
          • Poster Schedule & Session Information
          • JoCN Travel Fellowship Award
          • GSA/PFA Award Winners
          • Workshops, Socials & Special Events
        • Registration
          • Registration
          • Registration FAQ
          • Registration Policies, Cancellations & Refunds
        • News/Press
          • CNS 2023 Press Room
          • CNS 2022 Blog
          • CNS 2021 Blog
          • CNS 2020 Blog
        • Submissions
          • 2023 Poster Printing Discount
          • Submission Requirements
          • Submit a Poster
          • Submit a Symposium
          • GSA or PFA Application
          • Data Blitz
          • Frequently Asked Submission Questions
        • Archive
          • CNS 2020 Conference Videos
          • CNS 2019 Conference Videos
          • CNS 2018 Conference Videos
          • CNS 2017 Conference Videos
          • CNS 2016 Conference Videos
          • CNS 2015 Conference Videos
          • Previous Meetings Programs & Abstracts
  • About CNS
    • Boards and Committees
    • CNS Statement: Black Lives Matter
  • Membership
    • Information and Benefits
    • Join or Renew Membership
    • Membership FAQs
    • Member Discounts
    • Newsletter
      • Submit an Announcement
      • Current Newsletter
      • Newsletter FAQs
      • Past Newsletters
  • Awards
    • George A. Miller Award
    • Fred Kavli Distinguished Career Contributions Award
    • Young Investigator Award
    • Young Investigator Award Nominations
    • 2023 YIA Nomination Form
    • JoCN Travel Fellowship Award
  • News Center
    • CNS Blog
    • CNS 2023 Press Room
    • CNS 2022 Blog
    • CNS 2021 Blog
    • CNS 2020 Blog
    • CNS 2019 Blog
    • Blog Archives
    • Quick Tips for Getting Started on Twitter
    • Media Contact
  • My CNS
  • Contact Us
post

Exercise for the Aging Brain

February 14, 2014

Malcolm jarvis; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

credit: Malcolm jarvis; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

We all know that exercise is good for us, and a growing body of research shows that it helps our brains age well too. Scientists are now finding that physical activity is effective both at preventing and treating cognitive dysfunction over the course of a person’s life.

Researchers are still working to understand how the effects of exercise vary across ages and individuals and exactly how we all can make the most of exercise. In a recent study published in Psychological Science that looked at more than 1,000 people, Kirk Erickson of the University of Pittsburgh and colleagues suggested that a particular gene may influence the effects of exercise on working memory – helping to explain individual differences in the effects of exercise on cognitive performance.

Erickson, who will be presenting at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in Chicago this weekend, spoke with CNS about the larger body of work, including common misperceptions about the link between exercise and cognition.

CNS: Your 2012 review paper in the Archives of Medical Research says that there is robust evidence to show that physical activity is associated with brain changes that lower the risk of Alzheimer’s. Can you give an example of an exemplar study in the field since then?

Erickson: There have been a few published last year. For example, a recent study by Rob Gons and colleagues showed that greater amounts of physical activity were associated with greater white matter integrity in a sample of 440 older adults in numerous brain regions. Such effects could be linked to better cognitive function and a reduced risk for dementia. Other examples include work by Larissa P. de Andrade et al., and Eric Vidoni et al.

CNS: What levels of physical activity are needed to cause these brain changes, based on the research available?

Erickson: Good question. We think that only modest intensity exercise is needed – but this probably needs to be regular for several months before significant effects accrue. However, we don’t have a good answer for this at this time.

CNS: How and why did you personally become interested in the link between exercise and cognition in the elderly?

Erickson: I was interested in how plastic the brain is throughout life and I saw the potential for exercise to influence the brain in several ways.

CNS: Are there any common misconceptions in the public about the link between exercise and brain health?

Erickson: I think the public often thinks that you need years of intense exercise to see effects, but you really don’t. Modest amounts are sufficient, and it is never too late to start.

CNS: What are some specific effects in the brain that you have seen in people who regularly exercise? What about for non-elderly versus elderly?

Erickson: We see changes happening in several brain circuits, including the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Most of these studies have been in older people, but studies in children and young adults suggest similar regions suggesting common pathways by which exercise influences the brain across the lifespan.

CNS: What are the most exciting areas for research in this area heading into the next decade?

Erickson: I think we will learn the extent to which exercise can be used as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and the extent to which it could help prevent or delay symptoms from occurring. In addition, we will probably learn much more about the mechanisms and limitations of exercise as well.

By lmunoz Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: aging, cognition, exercise, physical activity

Previous article: Remembering After We Sleep Could be a Smell Away
Next article: Our Brains Are Not Split When it Comes to Word Versus Face Recognition

Recent Posts

  • Poverty: What’s the Brain Got to Do With It?
  • Unraveling Graceful Human Learning Over Time
  • Looking Forward to Understand Working Memory
  • From the Neurology Clinic to the Lab and Back Again: Addressing Frontal Lobe Syndromes
  • When Philosophical Questions Turn to Neuroscience Experimentation

Blog Archives

Quick Tips for Getting Started on Twitter

Cognitive Neuroscience Society
c/o Center for Mind and Brain
267 Cousteau Place, Davis, CA 95618
916-955-6080: for CNS Membership Questions
805-450-7490: for annual meeting questions about- registration, posters, symposium
916-409-5069: Fax Line
email: meeting@cogneurosociety.org

Recent Posts

  • Poverty: What’s the Brain Got to Do With It?
  • Unraveling Graceful Human Learning Over Time
  • Looking Forward to Understand Working Memory
  • From the Neurology Clinic to the Lab and Back Again: Addressing Frontal Lobe Syndromes
  • When Philosophical Questions Turn to Neuroscience Experimentation

Archives

Blog Archives

Previous Meeting Programs and Abstracts

Past Newsletters

All contents © Cognitive Neuroscience Society 1995-2019

Add to Calendar

Add to Calendar
04/16/2022 11:00 AM
04/16/2022 12:00 PM
America/Los_Angeles
How Prior Knowledge Shapes Encoding of New Memories
Description of the event
Grand Ballroom A
Create an Account

Login Utility