For several years now the concept of getting Alzheimers in old age has been bothering me. A few older people who I know have started to suffer from it, Terry Pratchett, an author who I am a fan of, announced a few years ago that he had been diagnosed with it and the people who tend to suffer from it seem to be the ones who had the sharpest minds when they were younger.
Since my life goal is to live a long and active life, this could be hindered if I struggle with remembering things or recognising people as I get older. Especially since I have already had moments in my late teens and early twenties when I struggled to remember things with my short-term memory.
I have therefore been pleased to see a selection of articles over the last month suggesting that exercise can improve the mind, including developing brain cells, improving mental health and happiness and that there are ways to prevent neurodegeneration.
I’ve linked to these articles below as a respository of information to remind me on the days when it all goes wrong in the gym of yet another reason why I should keep exercising.
- A good starting point to mental prowess is to start with good mental health and that is helped by happiness. Krista at Stumptuous reported on an observational study that showed that physical exercise reduced psychological distress.
- Chris at Conditioning Research highlighted a study into the way our brain develops when we learn new physical skills. New exercises with new movements would be included in this.
- Precision Nutrition published a really useful article about the brain and actions we can take to prevent neurodegeneration. Most of their solutions revolve around nutritional changes, such as increasing certain foods in your diet, but the message is clear – you can take control of how your brain ages.
- Conditioning Research has also highlighted “Spark!” a new book that covers the subject of how exercise improves mental performance. In particular, Chris pulls out the way we would originally have been moving about while learning things.
- Following on from his “Spark!” posts, Chris also found a study showing that endurance training improves the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor from the human brain.
- The Guardian recently ran an article in which they covered a study recently carried out at Cambridge University. The study showed that aerobic exercise stimulated growth of brain cells.
- Not on an exercise front, but this article looks at the possible reasons why low fat diets and statins may cause Alzheimers. The conclusion is well worth reading, even if you don’t have time to read the whole article.
- Finally, here are some handy tips on how to remember things that you learn.
I hope you find these of interest. I’ve certainly noticed that my short-term memory has improved a little in the last year or two since I started working out in a more dedicated way. I’d be interested to hear if other people have had similar experiences.
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Blog-watch: memory enhancers // Apr 29, 2010 at 21:03
[...] January I did a blog-watch about using exercise for mental health. There is absolutely no question in my mind that my memory has improved noticeably since I [...]