Well, at least for white matter plasticity and memory in older adults!
How Walking Can Build Up the Brain
Older men and women who walked for six months showed improvements in white matter and memory, while those who danced or did stretching exercises did not.
Past studies of brain plasticity generally focused on gray matter, though, which contains the celebrated little gray cells, or neurons, that permit and create thoughts and memories. Less research has looked at white matter, the brain’s wiring. Made up mostly of fat-wrapped nerve fibers known as axons, white matter connects neurons and is essential for brain health.
Researchers began by gathering almost 250 older men and women who were sedentary but otherwise healthy. At the lab, they tested these volunteers’ current aerobic fitness and cognitive skills and also measured the health and function of their white matter, using a sophisticated form of M.R.I. brain scan.
Group 1 a supervised program of stretching and balance training three times a week, to serve as an active control.
Group 2 walking together three times a week, briskly, for about 40 minutes.
Group 3 dancing, meeting three times a week to learn and practice line dances and group choreography.
All of the groups trained for six months, then returned to the lab to repeat the tests from the study’s start.
Group 2 walking were more aerobically fit, had best improvement in white matter, better memory
Group 3 dancing were more aerobically fit, improvement in white matter, but no better memory
Group 1 control declined in white matter and cognitive scores
The authors had thought the cognitive challenge of dancing might be better than walking
"The dancers spent some of their time each session watching the instructors and not moving much,” the author says. “That probably affected their results.”
It remains unclear whether the brains of younger, fitter people would likewise benefit or if longer-term aerobic exercise might prompt larger improvements in memory and thinking.
For a really challenging brain puzzle you might try reading the original article. If you have difficulty try walking for six months, and then try re-reading.
Fortunately, walking and dancing are not mutually exclusive. I can do both.
ReplyDeleteWith my balance problem I have been able to walk very well with my walking stick and use the treadmill (where I can hold on) with some physical therapy. However dancing is out of the question.
ReplyDeleteThe walking therapy is essential to my cognitive functioning. For a period when I got my balance problem my cognitive functioning deteriorated.
I was even diagnosed as mildly cognitively impaired for a while. One of my physicians who knows me well told me that only a guy as smart as me could figure out that I was mildly cognitively impaired and get all the tests to verify it.
Physical therapy restoring my walking to relatively high levels abolished the cognitive impairment. However I still have to keep count of my steps daily so that I don't backslide.
The mild cognitive impairment mainly shows up in a lesser ability to multitask. For example I can walk down a hallway well; however if I am required to do mental arithmetic while walking I either walk well or do mental arithmetic well but not both at the same time.
Jack, if you have an equilibrium problem, perhaps the added cognitive load of balancing while walking precludes doing other tasks.
DeleteJack, I don't do mental arithmetic very well, even when I am sitting down.
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