Exercise Your Way to Brain Health

 Read more from Allison here  

Dr. Allison Lamont, Brain and Memory Foundation.

Recent studies have shown clearly that exercise is vital for on-going brain, and memory, health. There is no longer any doubt that walking, swimming, weight training or whatever takes your fancy has an immensely positive effect on your ageing brain.

An exciting new study in 2011 found that when 120 adults (55 to 80 year-olds) walked for 40 minutes and three days a week for a year, they expanded the size of the hippocampus deep within the brain nestled in each temporal lobe (That's the area on each side of your head, about where your ears are!). This is exciting news as the hippocampus is absolutely vital to all memory tasks. Not only does your hippocampus file away memories, it connects them with all the other memories you already have and sends the memories off to be stored in your brain so you can access them later. It is the filing clerk for everything you want to remember. It is well worth the walking!

This is astonishing! After the early 50s, adults lose about 1% of brain volume per year. But, good news! Now we know we can not only stop the ageing shrinkage of the brain from happening but we can actually increase the size of the brain in a relatively short amount of time.

Perhaps you have heard the amazing study of London taxi drivers? As you can imagine, taxi drivers have a HUGE task learning all the possible routes in London. It is called 'the knowledge'. University researchers took scans of new drivers before they studied 'the knowledge' and again afterwards. There is no doubt! The taxi drivers' brains enlarged and adapted to help them store a detailed map of the city.

This is wonderful news for us. We are unlikely to be London taxi drivers, but by a combination of physical and mental exercise, we can definitely continue to grow and improve our own brain health and memory.

Who doesn't want to do that! So, on with the walking shoes, take up challenging mental exercise, keep engaged in social activity and you will have a growing, healthy brain and a sharp, resilient memory.

No more of 'Oh, I think I am having a senior moment'! Those we can do without. Instead, determine that you will do everything you can to grow those brain connections and astonish others with your great memory.

Stemming from our research, my work at the Auckland Memory Clinic, and looking after our mother with dementia, my sister Gillian Eadie and I founded the Brain and Memory Foundation. Do visit our Foundation website to read articles about memory and to receive six issues of the Brain Tune memory course (absolutely free!).

For further reading about ways you can improve your memory, you can buy your own copy of our helpful book through the Grown Ups Website. Look out for Seven Second Memory, written by Dr. Allison Lamont and Gillian Eadie.

Biography:
Dr. Allison Lamont is founder and memory consultant at the Auckland Memory Clinic. The clinic website is memoryclinic.co.nz. Have a look! You will find a lot of information about your memory. Allison's ground-breaking research into memory in older, healthy adults has excited interest in many parts of the world.

By Allison Lamont