Or are you on your own like everything else in stroke rehab?
http://www.biosciencetechnology.com/news/2014/10/exercise-can-improve-memory-people-over-60?
A
new study, in which researchers from Karolinska Institutet
participated, shows that physical activity can improve memory
performance in older people through increasing volume and blood flow in
an area of the brain called hippocampus. It is the first time these
connections are being studied in people over 60 years of age. The
results are published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
The hippocampus is a brain structure located deep in the temporal
lobe and is important for memory and learning. Previous research shows
that aerobic exercise can, among other things, increase blood flow in
hippocampus among younger people. The present study, which was led by a
research team from Magdeburg in Germany, is the first that also links
these changes to improved memory functioning.
During a three month period, the researchers studied a group of
individuals, aged 60 and older, who exercised during a personalized
thirty-minute session on a treadmill three times a week. In the
comparison group, participants performed stretching and muscle
relaxation exercises. In both groups, measurements were taken of
episodic memory (memory for personal experiences), volume and blood flow
in hippocampus, and participants' physical fitness as measured by
maximal oxygen uptake.
“We could then see that participants' fitness level had improved,
which was related to changes in memory, hippocampal volume, and blood
flow in hippocampus,” said Lars Bäckman, professor of cognitive
neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet and affiliated to the Aging
Research Center in Stockholm.
Increased blood flow
The researchers tested various models to explore the relationships
among the findings. It was revealed that the increase in hippocampal
volume in those participants who underwent the exercise program can
largely be explained by increased blood flow. According to the
researchers, it is probably due to an increase in vascular plasticity,
i.e., the ability to expand and form new blood vessels, rather than to
the formation of more neurons in hippocampus after physical activity.
“Thus, one point is that it may be the increase in blood volume and
oxygenation that underlies improved memory, rather than an increase in
the size of hippocampus itself,” said Martin Lövdén, professor in the
cognitive neuroscience of aging at Karolinska Institutet and also
working at the Aging Research Center.
Younger elderly persons
The findings in this study apply to persons between 60 and 70
years, thus younger elderly persons. Among participants over 70, the
same effects of the exercise were not observed, which suggests there may
be an age limit for this type of plasticity in the brain. The team will
now continue with its work and study if it is possible to combine
physical exercise with cognitive training in order to achieve even
higher plasticity among older persons.
Source: Karolinska Institutet
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