16 Feb Active ageing: keep your brain amazing

The prevention and management of cognitive decline through exercise in the elderly

With a diet rich in fish and vegetables, universal healthcare, and citizens who visit their doctors, on average, fourteen times a year, Japan boasts some of the healthiest humans on the planet. This esteemded A+ on its health report card means that one fifth of Japan’s population is now 70 years old or older. This accompanies all of the geriatric and end-of-life health concerns associated with cognitive decline.

Many of us in our 40’s, 50’s and 60’s may have noticed some unwelcome changes in how well we remember things or in how fast our brain works.  Most people do not realize that these unwelcome changes in our cognitive function represent the typical cognitive aging trajectory. The slight decline in cognitive function that we begin to notice in our late 40’s to early 50’s usually becomes steeper with each passing decade.

This leads to the question — are there things that we can do now to help maintain good cognitive function as we get older? It turns out that we have more control over our cognitive aging process than previously thought. The scientific evidence behind this statement comes from the theory of cognitive reserve. Cognitive reserve is the extent to which we use our brains efficiently and flexibly. In other words, the ability to maximize the brain we have right now.

Numerous studies support the theory that high cognitive reserve can help compensate for age-related brain changes and even neuropathology that leads to Alzheimer’s disease. Happily for us, we can build up our cognitive reserve by doing certain types of everyday activities, such as hobbies that engage our minds and regular physical exercise. doing activities that boost cognitive reserve are part of the recommended guidelines by the National Institute on Aging and even AARP. These activities can be anything from learning a new skill, taking a class at your local community college, practicing mindfulness, or doing games that require your brain to work quickly. To get the cognitive benefit, the activity should be interesting and at least somewhat challenging for you.

Similarly, many studies find that regular exercise can slow down age-related cognitive decline as well as onset of dementia, as assessed by cognitive test performance and/or brain scans. Although cognitive benefits are most pronounced for people who have been long time exercisers sedentary people who complete an exercise program also show improvements in certain aspects of cognition. Some evidence suggest that of all the everyday activities shown to aid cognitive reserve, physical exercise has the highest impact on delaying the onset of dementia. How much exercise is needed to achieve these benefits? The recommended guidelines are 150 minutes per week. If that number seems intimidating, think of it as an approximately 20 minute brisk walk each day.

Ideally I would want to use exercise as a modality to fundamentally change the ways in which the world thinks about taking care of their brains: not when it’s too late, but early and often. Moreover, my mission is to influence how the aging population manages both early cognitive dysfunction–the “Now where did I put my keys again?” moments–as well as issues surrounding the more serious onset of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s related dementia.