If you think exercise is only for those who want to lose weight and stay fit, you are mistaken. Its for all those who want to keep sharpening their memory for as long as they live. How is that possible? Is that even related? Lets explore this aspect in this article! Experiments and studies conducted by eminent people prove that even simple exercises like walking around for a while can help you remember better.
Research revealed that weight training is highly beneficial for old women with mild cognitive impairment. Now that’s great news isn’t it?
These are not just random rumors people! The report has been submitted to the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Vancouver and attention is being paid for further findings. Talking about Alzheimer’s disease all the drugs available in the market are known to provide temporary solutions only.
But if you take a look at the method prescribed above it serves as a non pharmaceutical tool to slow down the process of mental decline. “People want to find a magic cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but for memory function, a pair of sneakers might be just as important.” says Erickson, an assistant professor of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. “Physical activity appears to be an incredibly promising and effective approach and a non-pharmacological approach to improve brain function and hinder the progression of potential disease states like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. We have a lot more research to go before we can sell this as a prescription.” he added.
This is important for us to know because we already have 5.4 million American population suffering from Alzheimer’s and the number is likely to increase to 16 million by 2050. We also need to know what kind of exercises will give us what kind of benefits. According to the findings there was a 2% growth in the anterior hippocampus of the brain in those who exercised than in those who indulged in stretching and toning. The same researched also revealed that mental training and memory was better in the resistance trainees than in the balance and toning group.
Memory improvement was absent in those who just indulged in walking. If your problem is maintaining selective attention and conflict resolution then weight lifting is best for you. This opinion is shared by Teresa Liu-Ambrose, the study’s senior author and an assistant professor of physical therapy at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and the University of British Columbia. So did the expert advice motivate you in any way?
If yes, when do you plan to start exercising? The best time is right away!
Source: Walking, Resistance Training May Improve Memory in Study
