The new study, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, found that, on average, people aged 50 to 83 who did more moderate to vigorous physical activity than usual on a given day did better in memory tests the day after.
Guess I better go to the gym today. When it's cold or raining, that's a tough haul for me.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141021085524.htm
'Cognitive reserve' is the name given to the brain's capacity to compensate for the loss of its functions. This reserve cannot be measured directly; rather, it is calculated through indicators believed to increase this capacity.
A research project at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) has studied how having a wide vocabulary influences cognitive reserve in the elderly.
As Cristina Lojo Seoane, from the USC, co-author of the study published in the journal Anales de Psicología (Annals of Psychology), explains: "We focused on level of vocabulary as it is considered an indicator of crystallised intelligence (the use of previously acquired intellectual skills). We aimed to deepen our understanding of its relation to cognitive reserve."
The research team chose a sample of 326 subjects over the age of 50 -- 222 healthy individuals and 104 with mild cognitive impairment. They then measured their levels of vocabulary, along with other measures such as their years of schooling, the complexity of their jobs and their reading habits.
They also analysed the scores they obtained in various tests, such as the vocabulary subtest of the 'Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale' (WAIS) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test.
"With a regression analysis we calculated the probability of impairment to the vocabulary levels of the participants," Lojo Seoane continues.
The results revealed a greater prevalence of mild cognitive impairment in participants who achieved a lower vocabulary level score.
"This led us to the conclusion that a higher level of vocabulary, as a measure of cognitive reserve, can protect against cognitive impairment," the researcher concludes.”
So instead of tweets and texting, perhaps you should blog?
A new study published this week in the journal Neurology shows that people with type 2 diabetes demonstrate a decline in cognitive skills and ability to perform daily activities over the course of only two years.
Diet changes that could help
Despite cheese's less-than-healthy reputation, a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that cheese-eaters actually have a 12 percent lower risk of the disease than their non cheese-eating counterparts.
Plus, people who ate more cheese, fermented milk and yogurt in the study were also more likely to have a decreased diabetes risk than people who ate less of these foods, noted the
Researchers from the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center found that people who regularly eat tree nuts (we're talking pistachios, walnuts, almonds and cashews) have a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, as well as heart disease and metabolic syndrome.
University of Washington and University of Pittsburgh researchers found that people who walked the most in their study -- which included 1,826 people from Native American communities -- had a 29 percent lower risk of diabetes, compared with those who walked the least.
Apple, pear and blueberry eaters have lower risks of Type 2 diabetes, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The study was based on the diets of 200,000 people. HuffPost Canada reported that anthocyanins and fruits rich in anthocyanins were linked with lower diabetes risk; flavanoids, however, were not.
Eating a range of fruits and veggies could help to lower the risk of Type 2 diabetes, Medical Daily reported.
Drinking alcohol at a moderate level is linked with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes for some people, according to an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study. Harvard researchers found that for women with refined carb-heavy diets, moderate alcohol consumption is linked with a decreased diabetes risk of 30 percent, compared with non-imbibing women who eat similar diets, Reuters reported.
Chinese researchers found earlier this year that coffee may stop a protein linked with Type 2 diabetes from building up, thereby possibly lowering the risk of the disease, WebMD reported. The research, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, suggests that three particular compounds found in coffee are able to have this beneficial effect: caffeine, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid, according to WebMD.
[Excerpts from the article] The EXCEL (EXercise for Cognition and Everyday Living) study was a 6-month randomized trial. Eighty-six community-dwelling women 70 to 80 years old were randomly allocated to twice-weekly resistance training (RT) (28 women), twice-weekly Aerobic Training (AT) (30 women), or twice-weekly balance and tone (BAT) training (control group) (28 women). Participants were classified as having probable mild cognitive impairment if they had a score lower than 26 out of 30 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment8 and had subjective memory complaints. . . .
In senior women with subjective memory complaints, 6 months of twice-weekly RT improved selective attention/conflict resolution, associative memory, and regional patterns of functional brain plasticity compared with twice-weekly BAT exercises. In contrast, 6 months of twice-weekly AT improved physical function. We provide novel evidence that RT can benefit multiple domains in those at risk for dementia.
While we previously demonstrated that 12 months of twice-weekly RT significantly improved Stroop Test performance in cognitively healthy women 65 to 75 years old, (3) our current study found an improvement after only 6 months in women 70 to 80 years old with probable mild cognitive impairment. Thus, the benefits of RT on selective attention/conflict resolution may be more potent among those at greater risk for dementia.
Baker et al (6) previously demonstrated that 6 months of AT improved selective attention/conflict resolution and set shifting performance in older women with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. This may be attributed to differences in both the frequency and intensity of AT between the 2 studies. In addition, our study participants were older and had lower baseline Mini-Mental State Examination scores.
We also demonstrated that 6 months of RT twice-weekly significantly improved associative memory performance, co-occurring with positive functional changes in hemodynamic activity in regions involved in the memorization of associations. (10) Impaired associative memory is a hallmark of early stages of Alzheimer disease.
“Resistance Training Promotes Cognitive and Functional Brain Plasticity in Seniors With Probable Mild Cognitive Impairment” Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(8):666-668
Resistance training is a specific component of any strength training routine. Technically put, resistant training is any exercise performed against an opposing force produced by a resistance. This resistance can be made from pushing, squeezing, pulling or bending. http://everything-about-pilates.com/resistance-training/
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