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A small study suggests that cardiac pumping exercises are beneficial to the brain, improving thinking skills, even among young adults.
For the study, scientists followed more than 130 adults aged 20 to 67 years. The researchers found that aerobic exercise increased participants' overall physical condition and their so-called leadership function – thinking skills essential to reasoning, planning and problem solving. .
And while all ages benefited, brain gains increased with age, the results showed.
A wider age range
"What we see here is that, in people who do not exercise, exercising them actually increases their abilities," said author of the study, Yaakov Stern. "This effect is not only important for the elderly, but also for the younger ones."
Stern is responsible for cognitive neuroscience at the College of Vagelos Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York.
Many studies have examined the impact of aerobics exercises on reasoning ability, but most have focused on older adults, noted Stern. His team decided to look for a broader age group. The researchers recruited 132 adults (70% female) from five fitness centers in New York.
One group did aerobic exercises 4 times a week for 24 weeks. the other was badigned to a stretching / toning workout. Those who practice aerobics wore heart rate monitors.
Participants' brain skills – including executive function, memory, processing speed, language and attention – were tested initially, then again at 12 and 24 weeks. Brain imaging was performed early and 24 weeks later.
After 24 weeks, executive skills improved significantly among aerobic exercise participants of all ages. No changes were noted in treatment speed, language, attention or memory of participants in the study.
A step in the right direction
The researchers were unable to determine why aerobic exercise was badociated with an improvement in executive function.
"Exercise has a whole set of effects on the brain, and I do not know if we can attribute it clearly to one mechanism or another," Stern said.
Images of the brain have shown extra thickness in the brain's cortex, which is usually involved in speech and decision-making. But the authors of the study stated that the changes did not correspond directly to a specific change in thinking skills.
Dr. Harpaul Bhamra, a neurologist at NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, NY, said these results add to other research badociating physical activity and health. Further investigation is still needed, he said.
"It's important to keep in mind that this study was made up of 70% women," said Bhamra, who did not participate in the study. "It's a good study, but everything is also done in a city, I do not know how general it is, but it's a step in the right direction."
The report was published online in the journal Neurology.
Image credit: iStock
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