FROM THE FITNESS MANAGER
COGNITIVE
health
What does cognition have to do with our physical health?
Allison Adams Fitness Manager
When we speak of cognition and cognitive health, we’re referring to brain health. Maintaining a healthy and functioning brain is a priority for quality of life. Brain health therapies are more prominent in recent years, as growing awareness of the many forms of dementia are garnering focus by the scientific community. According to the Oxford dictionary, cognition is “the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses”. As we age, many of us experience changes in our cognitive health, usually when we start to see lapses in our short-term memory, however, there are many processes that can be modified as we age, including attention, language, learning, memory, perception, speed and reasoning of thought. 14
Well, Physical exercise spares age-related loss of brain tissue and enhances functional aspects in the control of cognition (https:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC3951958/). It’s relevant to point out that the World Health Organization differentiates physical exercise from physical activity in relation to the topic of maintaining or improving cognitive health. It defines physical exercise as “a subcategory of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and has as a final or an intermediate objective, the improvement or maintenance of one or more components of physical fitness” (https://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC5934999/). According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there is much evidence to show that physical exercise “affects brain plasticity, influencing cognition and wellbeing” (Weinberg and Gould, 2015; for review see Fernandes et al., 2017), As a gene regulator, exercise generates structural changes in the brain.
You may be familiar with the term, neuroplasticity. It’s become more common to hear this term in current TV commercials promoting a pill to maintain or enhance memory. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s modification to experiences. It refers to the formation and reorganization of synaptic connections through the brain’s experiences. In other words, neuroplasticity can reset our internal systems. Biologically, physical exercise enhances oxygen levels through improved blood circulation throughout the brain. Psychologically, physical exercise is known to decrease symptoms of anxiety, depression, hostility, and headaches.
What kind of exercise should we do to positively impact our cognitive health?
Aerobic activity has shown to have a larger influence on improved memory and cognition than strengthtraining, not surprising, considering the health benefits of higher oxygen transmission via robust blood circulation, and developed through consistent aerobic practice. Studies have shown that higher intensity exercise increases cognitive health over lower-intensity. It’s important to point out, however, that the key is consistent movement to deliver cognitive benefits.
Why do we see cognitive decline as we age? Science reports that cognitive decline in aging can be attributed to medical illness, psychological factors, genetic, vision and auditory impairments, as well as lifestyle choices.
Some may need to start with gentler exercises such as T’ai Chi or Chi-Gong. That’s okay as long as there is a beginning. Although often not as vigorous as many aerobic methods, yoga is proven to be a positive tool to prevent cognitive decline due to its focus on body awareness and meditative nature.
Those who are more consistently active in life are shown to retain higher cognitive function than non-active persons; those higher fit individuals process information more quickly.
If you are starting out slower, over time higher intensity exercise like walking, running, dancing, and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) are great choices. The goal is to be consistent.
Grand Lifestyles | December 2021 | suncitygrand.com
