Obecalp

Researchers at Yale Uni­ver­si­ty have just released a good paper show­ing the impor­tance of both phys­i­cal and men­tal exer­cise to main­tain good mem­o­ry (full text of research paper Sin­gle Enrich­ment Vari­ables Reduce Aged-relat­ed Mem­o­ry Decline in Female Mice).

Some quotes from the Sci­ence Dai­ly release Exer­cise And Men­tal Stim­u­la­tion Both Boost Mouse Mem­o­ry Late In Life:

• “The results sug­gest that as we get old and maybe less able to exer­cise, cog­ni­tive stim­u­la­tion can help to com­pen­sate. If the trend holds, write the authors, “These data may sug­gest that enrich­ment ini­ti­at­ed at any age can sig­nif­i­cant­ly improve mem­o­ry func­tion. And exer­cise plus men­tal chal­lenge in mid­dle age — when many peo­ple start to notice sub­tle mem­o­ry changes — may offer the strongest, most wide­spread ben­e­fits for mem­o­ry function.”
• The authors note that exer­cise was cen­tral to mem­o­ry rein­force­ment in all age groups. Says lead author Karyn Frick, PhD, “It is impor­tant for peo­ple of all ages to do 20 to 30 min­utes of aer­o­bic exer­cise sev­er­al times a week. Keep­ing a healthy and active brain may pre­vent mem­o­ry decline in old age, but only a lon­gi­tu­di­nal study that fol­lows mice over time could con­firm this possibility.”

We dis­cussed this top­ic in more depth in my inter­view on Build­ing Your Cog­ni­tive Reserve with Dr. Yaakov Stern and in the dia­logue with Dr. Michael Merzenich that includ­ed fea­tur­ing the pio­neer­ing work of Dr. Mar­i­an Dia­mond.

In short, if you want to pro­tect and improve your mem­o­ry, get ready to exer­cise both body and brain!