Dr. Arthur Kramer is a Professor in the University of Illinois agency of Psychology, the Campus Neuroscience Program, the Beckman Institute, and the Director of the Biomedical Imaging town at the University of Illinois.
I am honored to interview him today about up-to-date brain study findings focused on how to declare a healthy, strong brain.
Alvaro Fernandez (Af): Dr. Kramer, thank you for your time. Let's start by trying to justify some existing misconceptions and controversies. Based on what we know today, and your up-to-date Nature piece (Note: referenced below), what are the 2-3 key lifestyle habits would you recommend to a person who wants to delay Alzheimer's symptoms and enhance thorough brain health?
Dr. Kramer (Dk): First, Be Active. Do physical exercise. Aerobic exercise, 30 to 60 minutes per day 3 days per week, has been shown to have an impact in a range of experiments. And you don't need to do something strenuous: even walking has shown that effect. There are many open questions in terms of exact types of exercise, duration, magnitude of effect...but, as we wrote in our up-to-date Nature Reviews Neuroscience article, there is limited doubt that prominent a sedentary life is bad for our cognitive health. Cardiovascular rehearsal seems to have a confident effect.
Second, declare Lifelong Intellectual Engagement. There is abundant prospective observational study showing that doing more mentally stimulating activities reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's symptoms.
Let me add, given all media hype, that no "brain game" in singular has been shown to have a long-term impact on Alzheimer's or the maintenance of cognition across extended periods of time. It is too early for that-and consumers should be aware of that fact. It is true that some clubs are being more science-based than others but, in my view, the consumer-oriented field is growing faster than the study is.
Ideally, combine both physical and reasoning stimulation along with public interactions. Why not take a good walk with friends to discuss a book? We lead very busy lives, so the more integrated and appealing activities are, the more likely we will do them.
Af: Great concept: a walking book club! Now, part of the confusion we witness is due to the quest of "magic solutions" that work for every person and everything. We prefer to talk about several pillars of brain health, and distinct priorities for distinct individuals. Can you justify on what interventions seem to have a confident ensue on exact cognitive abilities and individuals?
Dk: perhaps one day we will be able to recommend exact interventions for individuals based on genetic testing, for example, but we don't have a clue today. We are only beginning to understand how the environment interacts with our genome.
But I agree on the premise that there probably won't be a general explication that solves all cognitive problems, but we need a multitude of approaches. And we can't forget, for example, the cognitive benefits from smoking cessation, sleep, pharmacological interventions, nutrition, public engagement.
Physical rehearsal tends to have rather broad effects on distinct forms of perception and cognition, as seen in the Colcombe and Kramer, 2003, meta-analysis published in Psychological Science (Note: referenced below).
Cognitive training also works for a multitude of perceptual and cognitive domains - but has shown limited transfer beyond trained tasks.
No singular type of intervention is sufficient. Today there is no clear study on how those distinct lifestyle factors may interact. The National fabricate on Aging is beginning to sponsor study to address indubitably that.
Af: To wrap up, what's in your mind the best way to justify the relative benefits of physical vs. Cognitive exercise? From a underlying point of view, it seems clear that physical rehearsal can help enhance neurogenesis (Note: the creation of new neurons), yet learning/ cognitive rehearsal contributes to the survival of those neurons by strengthening synapses, so I see more how those two "pillars" are complimentary than "one or the other".
Dk: I agree. Given what we know today I would recommend both intellectual engagement and physical exercise. However, we do know, from a multitude of animal studies, that physical rehearsal has a multitude of effects on brains beyond neurogenesis, along with increases in discrete neurotransmitters, nerve grown factors, and angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels).
Af: Dr. Kramer, many thanks for your time.
Dk: You are welcome.
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