Dementia - Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Dementia has become a very big concern as we have an aging population across the world. Dementia is also terrifying to us because of its disturbing symptoms and limited treatment options.
Dementia has become a very big concern as we have an aging population across the world. Dementia is also terrifying to us because of its disturbing symptoms and limited treatment options.
‘Older adults who take more steps either by walking or jogging perform better on memory tasks than those who are more sedentary. These positive effects of physical activity extend to long-term memory that is negatively impacted by aging and neurodegenerative dementias.’
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The study included 29 young adults (ages 18-31) and 31 older adults (ages 55-82 years) who wore a small device called an ActiGraph, which recorded information including how many steps each took, how vigorous the steps were and how much time it involved. Participants also completed neuropsychological testing to assess their memory, planning and problem-solving abilities. In addition to standardized neuropsychological tasks of executive function (planning and organization abilities) and long-term memory, participants engaged in a laboratory task in which they had to learn face-name associations. The researchers found that older adults who took more steps per day had better memory performance. The association between the number of steps taken was strongest with a task that required recalling which name went with a person's face - the same type of everyday task that older adults often have difficulty with. In young adults, the number of steps taken was not associated with memory performance.
According to the researchers these findings demonstrate that the effects of physical activity extend to long-term memory - the same type of memory that is negatively impacted by aging and neurodegenerative dementias such as Alzheimer's disease. Corresponding author Scott Hayes, assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and the Associate Director of the Neuroimaging Research for Veterans Center at the VA Boston Healthcare System, said, "Our findings that physical activity is positively associated with memory is appealing for a variety of reasons. Everyone knows that physical activity is a critical component to ward off obesity and cardiovascular-related disease. Knowing that a lack of physical activity may negatively impact one's memory abilities will be an additional piece of information to motivate folks to stay more active."
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The researchers emphasize that the objective measurement of physical activity was a key component of the current study, as the majority of studies to date have used self-report questionnaires, which can be impacted by memory failures or biases.
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