• Brain function boosted by daily physical

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Mon Jan 31 21:30:44 2022
    Brain function boosted by daily physical activity in middle-aged, older
    adults

    Date:
    January 31, 2022
    Source:
    University of California - San Diego
    Summary:
    A new study finds brain function boosted by daily exercise in
    middle-aged and older adults.



    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    A new study by researchers at University of California San Diego School
    of Medicine adds to the canon of research associating physical activity
    with cognitive performance, this time using 90 middle-aged and older
    subjects who wore accelerometers while physically active and completed
    mobile cognitive testing from home.


    ==========================================================================
    "The future of lifestyle interventions really needs to be remote-based,"
    said Raeanne Moore, PhD, associate professor in the Department of
    Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine and principal investigator
    of the study. "The pandemic has made this especially clear." On the
    days their physical activity increased, the study found, the 50- to
    74- year-old participants performed more effectively on an executive
    function task, and on the days when their physical activity decreased,
    so too did their cognitive performance.

    The findings published Jan. 31, 2022 in the journal JMIR mHealth and
    uHealth.

    "It was a very linear relationship," Moore said. "We hypothesized that
    we would find this, but we couldn't be sure because we weren't telling
    people to increase their physical activity. They just did what they do
    every day." First author Zvinka Zlatar, PhD, a clinical psychologist
    at UC San Diego School of Medicine, added: "Future interventions, in
    which we ask people to increase their physical activity, will help us
    determine if daily changes in physical activity lead to daily gains in cognition measured remotely or vice versa." The correlation between
    physical activity and cognition remained when adjustments were made
    for various co-morbidities, such as HIV status, age, sex, education and race/ethnicity. But it held only for persons who function dependently --
    who rely on others to perform the tasks of daily living, such as managing household activities or paying the bills.



    ==========================================================================
    "For them, physical activity may have a greater benefit on daily,
    real-world cognitive performance," Moore said, a finding consistent with research into Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

    Though it didn't fall within the purview of this study, Moore speculated
    that, because functionally independent adults likely perform more
    cognitively stimulating and social activities, which are known to have
    positive impacts on brain health, physical activity may have less of an
    impact on cognition.

    Moore and Zlatar said their work has implications for the development
    of novel digital health interventions to preserve brain health in aging.

    "We don't know yet if there's a cumulative, long-term effect to these
    small daily fluctuations in cognition," Zlatar said. "That's something
    we plan to study next -- to see if performing physical activity at
    different intensities over time, in unsupervised settings, can produce long-term improvements in brain health and sustained behavior change." Co-authors include: Bin Tang, Anne Heaton, David J. Moore and Michael
    Higgins, all at UC San Diego; Laura M. Campbell, Joint Doctoral Program
    in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/UC San Diego; Spencer
    Gabin, University of San Diego; and Joel Swendsen, National Center for Scientific Research, University of Bordeaux and Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes PSL Research University.

    Funding for this research came, in part, from the National Institute of
    Mental Health.

    special promotion Get a free digital "Metabolism Myths"
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    always get wrong about diet and exercise. Claim_yours_now_>>> ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
    University_of_California_-_San_Diego. Original written by Corey
    Levitan. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Zvinka Z Zlatar, Laura M Campbell, Bin Tang, Spenser Gabin,
    Anne Heaton,
    Michael Higgins, Joel Swendsen, David J Moore, Raeanne C
    Moore. Daily Level Association of Physical Activity and Performance
    on Ecological Momentary Cognitive Tests in Free-living Environments:
    A Mobile Health Observational Study. JMIR mHealth and uHealth,
    2022; 10 (1): e33747 DOI: 10.2196/33747 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220131164208.htm

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