Brain Boosters: Exercising Your Mind as You Age - Essay Example

Brain Boosters In an article d “Brain Boosters: Exercising your mind as you age”, Jaret (1999) reports on the recent trends in research which have shown that while the brain’s processing speed gradually slows as a person ages, exercise has a beneficial effect in keeping the heart strong and the blood vessels open, which in turn leads to better brain activity. The article gives the overall impression that aerobic fitness may help to slow down the ageing of the brain and therefore appears to downplay the importance of mental exercise for the brain. The study that was conducted by Robert Dustman had 43 ageing participants, ranging between the ages of 55 to 70, most of whom were largely sedentary. These participants were divided into three groups, of which one group did flexibility exercises, the other did aerobic exercise while the last group remained inactive. The findings in this study showed that not only did the aerobic group improve in proportion to all the other groups in terms of the physical measurements that were being taken; there was also a sharp jump in cognitive abilities. On this basis, Dustman concluded that physical exercise was beneficial in improving brain activity in older adults. The benefits of physical activity in improving cognitive ability in ageing adults have also been shown in other studies, where physical activity played an important role in reducing cognitive impairment that occurs with old age.(Sumic et al, 2007). In a test conducted with 15 subjects whose cognitive performance was tested immediately before and after 45 minutes of exercise, and compared with a control group results showed an improvement in six of the eight cognitive scores being measured in the exercising group as opposed to the control group and the improvements were particularly marked in logical memory test scores. The dangers inherent in the reporting in the CNN article is that it conveys a misleading impression that aerobics is likely to improve cognitive function in every instance. It does not mention other studies that have pointed out the risks that go hand in hand with aerobics. For example, Benzaia (1988) points out how aerobic exercise can sometimes be damaging for women, since the high heeled shoes that they habitually wear can make their ankles prone to injuries that could result from aerobic activity. Therefore, it may not be advisable for women to embark upon a program of aerobics. Similarly, a leading psychotherapist, Maeve Mitchell, has warned of the dangers of high impact aerobics for young children in the causation of long term injuries and damages to joints. (Reilly, 2006). Such risks could also be posed to ageing adults who engage in vigorous high impact aerobic activity, since it could easily cause damage to joints. The risk of long term injuries is also greater, especially in the case of women whose bones may be fragile due to the calcium deficiencies that develop as women age. However, the article mentions none of these risks. Neither does it suggest that ageing people proposing to enter into a period of aerobic activity should first consult their doctors in order to determine whether such exercise could be beneficial for them given their individual health condition. The results that were found in Dustman’s study can by no means be applied across the ageing population, because there will be many other factors that need to be considered, not least of which is the individual health level of the patient. Dustman’s study is significant, especially in the context of various other studies that have been touting the benefits of physical exercise in ageing adults. Dustman’s sample size was very small and it has taken into account only a limited number of variables. This newspaper report on the benefits of aerobics in improving the ageing brain’s cognitive powers left out all the limiting factors in the research study which suggest that the research is only at a preliminary stage and only suggested a possible association between aerobic physical exercise and cognitive ability. If the results of Dustman’s study are to be applied across a wider spectrum of the ageing population, it is necessary for similar studies to be carried out using larger population samples in such a manner that the results that have been obtained in this study can be replicated. The lack of replication, the questionable aspects of the validity and reliability of the research results, were all factors ignored by the news reporters, as also the various cautionary messages about aerobics that have been expressed by other experts. While Dustman’s study is very significant, since the population of America is ageing and more and more Americans are staying in their jobs and facing the need to retain the cognitive abilities of their youth, the report in CNN covers only one aspect of the study and does not indicate how other factors may also play a role in enhancing cognition. Exercising the brain through mental tests may be as important as physical activity in improving cognitive activity. There is no indication in the Dustman study as to how and of a homogenous group was selected so that the results could be evaluated with some degree of scientific validity. Mowever, the manner in which the results of this study are reported in the article lead to a deceptive impression generated in the minds of the audience. For example, the beneficial effects of physical exercise is only aspect of the various factors that are responsible for brain activity in old age. In a study conducted by Rosenberg et al (2006) on an ageing woman who demonstrated signs of mild cognitive impairment as a result of age, the findings showed how late life depression could also cause mild cognitive impairment in ageing adults and could in extreme cases lead to Alzheimer’s disease. An ageing patient who demonstrates signs of cognitive impairment due to such psychological causes is unlikely to receive any significant benefit merely from physical activity. In this study for example, the researcher has pointed out that the plan of treatment that was recommended for the woman included a regime that included physical exercise as well as challenging cognitive activities. This was also to be accompanied by education of both patients and their families about the possibilities of mild cognitive impairment with age, so that they are told it represents increased risk rather than prescribing medication; which in turn was found to be helpful in alleviating anxiety in patients. Therefore, in conclusion it must be stated that the article is almost like an advertisement for ageing people, encouraging them to enter into aerobic activity without providing any cautionary notes. Aerobic activity may not be suitable in the case of every adult, and the dangers of such high impact aerobics can be particularly risky in the case of older people. Therefore, a responsible report would have also included all the necessary cautionary notes, while also advising the elderly person to seek the advice of a qualified medical practitioner before embarking on any such program of exercise. While mild exercise may be safely undertaken by ageing adults on the advice of their physicians, it is vital that medical advice be sought before elders embark on a vigorous program of exercise. The article has provided an emphasis on the benefits of physical exercise and the article quotes an expert who says that the two best factors that predict cognitive ability in ageing adults are physical ones. Mental exercise may be as important for adults and may be beneficial with a program of mild exercise. However the article is written in such a way that it provides an incentive for older people to get into aerobics which could be unwise and pose a danger to health in the case of some adults who are not in such a good shape physically. In the context of a rapidly ageing population that seeks to retain cognitive ability, the results of such a study are likely to have been seized with eagerness by most of the ageing public that read it. News reports are prepared in such a way that they can grab as much attention as possible. Reporting the results of Dustman’s study in a balanced manner, pointing out that the findings are more in the nature of an inference to be drawn rather than conclusive results that have been proved in terms of reliability and validity, is therefore akin to irresponsible reporting. The report should have included all the reports about potential dangers of aerobics and a cautionary note to ageing adults to consult their physicians. However, that would have lessened the impact of the article, therefore several factors were left out in the race to garner a wider readership. References * Benzaia, Diane, 1988. “Casualties of the aerobics age.” Self, 10(8) : 70 * Dustman, R. E., R. Y. Emmerson, R. O. Ruhling, D. E. Shearer, L. A. Steunhaus, S. C. Johnson, H. W. Bonekat, and J. W. Shigeoka, 1990. “Age and fitness effects on EEG, ERPs, visual sensitivity and cognition”. Neurobiology and Ageing 11:193-200, * Molloy, D.W., D.A. Beerschoten, M.J. Borrie, R.G. Crilly, and R.D.T. Cape, 1988. "Acute Effects of Exercise on Neuropsychological Function in Elderly Subjects," Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 36 (1): 29-33. * Rosenberg, Paul B, Johnston, Dierdre and Lyketsos, Constantine G, 2006. “A clinical approach to mild cognitive impairment” The American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(11): 1884-1891 * Reilly, Jerome, 2006. “Children risk injuries from gym aerobics.” Independent [online] available at: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/children-risk-injuries-from-gym-aerobics-126439.html * Sumic, Aleksandra, Michael, Yvonne L, Carlson, Nicole E, Howieson, Diane B and Kaye, Jeffrey A, 2007. “Physical activity and the risk of dementia in oldest old” Journal of Ageing and Health, 19(2): 242 Read More