Ageing, fitness and neurocognitive function

Healthy Brain Aging: Role of Exercise and Physical Activity

“…41,[51][52][53] Most of these RCTs were based on small samples of young-old participants, and were short-term trials, none of which were designed to assess incidence of AD or dementia as the main outcome. These RCTs concluded that compared with controls, individuals assigned to a physical exercise program improved 48,[51][52][53][54][55][56] or maintained 57 their cognitive function. In a young-old population, Molloy and colleagues 58 also suggested that the acute effects of an exercise program on neuropsychological function were not longlasting.…”

“…However, most RCTs of physical activity in older adults suggest a selective improvement in executive control processes. 53,68 Aerobic exercise intervention enhances executive function, although other cognitive functions seem to be insensitive to physical exercise (aerobic exercise affected cognitive and neural plasticity in a cross-sectional study). 51 The specificity that aerobic exercise has on executive function suggests some specificity for aerobic exercise on brain function that requires further research.…”

Infant motor development and cognitive performance in early old age: the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study

“…Executive functioning, i.e., the cognitive abilities that control and guide goal-directed performance (Banich 2009), include processing speed, visual attention, and working memory. These cognitive domains are supported by prefrontal and frontal areas of brain and have been shown to be most vulnerable in the ageing process (Kramer et al 1999, Ren et al 2013. They are also significently and independently correlated with functional status in older ages (Royall et al 2004).…”

Exercise reverses the harmful effects of consumption of a high-fat diet on synaptic and behavioral plasticity associated to the action of brain-derived neurotrophic factor

“…A diet rich in saturated fat and refined sugar (HF), similar in composition to the average popular diet of most industrialized Western societies, can threaten neuronal plasticity and compromise the capacity of the rodent brain for learning (Greenwood and Winocur, 1996;Winocur and Greenwood, 1999;Molteni et al, 2002). On the other hand, epidemiological studies indicate that exercise can decrease cognitive decay associated to aging (Kramer et al, 1999) and is inherently beneficial for reducing the risk of various diseases (Friedland et al, 2001;Laurin et al, 2001). Experimental studies show that exercise can improve cognitive function in both young and aged animals (Radak et al, 2001;Churchill et al, 2002).…”