Weak physical activity associated with weak nerve tissue and the risk of dementia
Scientists have found new evidence that a healthy mind is in a healthy body. Exercise improves brain health and helps prevent Alzheimer's disease, according to a study by the O'Donnell Brain Institute: with a low level of physical activity, brain tissue degrades faster. This leads to a decrease in cognitive functions, including memory impairment, characteristic of patients with dementia. The co-author of the work noted: "This study confirms the hypothesis that physical activity can improve the state of the brain and slow down the aging process."
Scientists from the O'Donnell Brain Institute have focused on the study of the white matter of the brain - a component of the central nervous system, which mainly consists of bundles of axons coated with myelin. Axons are processes of the nerve cell, through which nerve impulses go to innervated organs or other nerve cells. The team worked with older patients at high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease — they had signs of memory loss or mild cognitive impairment. Scientists have determined that the lack of physical activity is associated with the deterioration of the state of white matter, which, in turn, correlates with the deterioration of brain function.
In this case, study participants did not assess their condition independently. Scientists conducted tests of cardiorespiratory parameters, that is, the state of the heart and lungs, and also did MRI of the brain for neuroimaging, in order to track the state of the white matter. Patients were given various tests to study cognitive functions in order to find a correlation between exercise, brain condition, and cognitive ability. As a result, scientists have obtained yet another proof of the obvious: the exercises are useful.
On the images of the brain, yellow and red pixels indicate areas in which the white matter functionality is associated with a high level of physical activity.
The study leaves open many questions about how sport and Alzheimer's disease are related. How often and with what intensity do you need to do to reduce the risk of dementia? Is it too late to increase activity when the first symptoms of the disease appear? Another team from the O'Donnell Brain Institute is working on these issues as part of a five-year study of Risk Reduction for Alzheimer's Disease (rrAD) , which covered six medical centers in the United States.
The goal of the specialists is to involve more than 600 elderly patients with a high risk of Alzheimer's development in a study in order to identify ways to overcome the deterioration of the brain. Several groups of participants between the ages of 60 and 85 do exercises, take drugs to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, use a combination of these two methods, or receive standard care.
The new work was based on other studies, including the study of the rrAD team in 2013, in which scientists found a more effective interaction between neurons in older people who regularly do physical exercises.
Light can be one of the ways to fight Alzheimer's disease. Neuroscientists at the University of Michigan have figured this out by experimenting with Nilot herbal day-living mice. This study for the first time showed structural changes in the brain depending on the light mode.
The inability of mice that were affected by dim lights to solve a spatial problem is reminiscent of how people cannot find their car in the parking lot after a movie theater or a long stay in a shopping center. This group of mice lost 30% of the capacity of the hippocampus, in contrast to the group that was affected by bright light. Bright light reduced beta-amyloid productivity, from which large deposits are formed in neurons of the brain in Alzheimer's disease.
The research paper was published in December 2017 in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. DOI: 10.3233 / JAD-170415.
Scientists from the O'Donnell Brain Institute have focused on the study of the white matter of the brain - a component of the central nervous system, which mainly consists of bundles of axons coated with myelin. Axons are processes of the nerve cell, through which nerve impulses go to innervated organs or other nerve cells. The team worked with older patients at high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease — they had signs of memory loss or mild cognitive impairment. Scientists have determined that the lack of physical activity is associated with the deterioration of the state of white matter, which, in turn, correlates with the deterioration of brain function.
In this case, study participants did not assess their condition independently. Scientists conducted tests of cardiorespiratory parameters, that is, the state of the heart and lungs, and also did MRI of the brain for neuroimaging, in order to track the state of the white matter. Patients were given various tests to study cognitive functions in order to find a correlation between exercise, brain condition, and cognitive ability. As a result, scientists have obtained yet another proof of the obvious: the exercises are useful.
On the images of the brain, yellow and red pixels indicate areas in which the white matter functionality is associated with a high level of physical activity.
The study leaves open many questions about how sport and Alzheimer's disease are related. How often and with what intensity do you need to do to reduce the risk of dementia? Is it too late to increase activity when the first symptoms of the disease appear? Another team from the O'Donnell Brain Institute is working on these issues as part of a five-year study of Risk Reduction for Alzheimer's Disease (rrAD) , which covered six medical centers in the United States.
The goal of the specialists is to involve more than 600 elderly patients with a high risk of Alzheimer's development in a study in order to identify ways to overcome the deterioration of the brain. Several groups of participants between the ages of 60 and 85 do exercises, take drugs to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, use a combination of these two methods, or receive standard care.
The new work was based on other studies, including the study of the rrAD team in 2013, in which scientists found a more effective interaction between neurons in older people who regularly do physical exercises.
Light can be one of the ways to fight Alzheimer's disease. Neuroscientists at the University of Michigan have figured this out by experimenting with Nilot herbal day-living mice. This study for the first time showed structural changes in the brain depending on the light mode.
The inability of mice that were affected by dim lights to solve a spatial problem is reminiscent of how people cannot find their car in the parking lot after a movie theater or a long stay in a shopping center. This group of mice lost 30% of the capacity of the hippocampus, in contrast to the group that was affected by bright light. Bright light reduced beta-amyloid productivity, from which large deposits are formed in neurons of the brain in Alzheimer's disease.
The research paper was published in December 2017 in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. DOI: 10.3233 / JAD-170415.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/410229/