How exercise could ‘combat ageing of the brain’ and help slow cognitive decline

For years, we’ve been extolled the virtues of exercise for our health and well-being and now researchers have discovered that physical activity can help prevent or slow cognitive decline as we age.

The discovery was made by a research team led by Associate Professor Jana Vukovic from UQ’s School of Biomedical Sciences and Queensland Brain Institute and Dr Solal Chauquet from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience who examined how genes were expressed in individual brain cells of mice.

“We found that ageing significantly alters the gene expression of all cell types in the brain but had greatest impact on the microglia, which are immune cells of the central nervous system that support brain function,” Dr Vukovic said.

In their research, scientists discovered that exercise greatly affects how genes are expressed in microglia, the immune cells that help the brain function. They observed that exercise can make older microglia behave more like young ones in terms of gene activity.

Additionally, they noticed that giving mice access to a running wheel stopped or decreased the appearance of T cells in the hippocampus as they aged. These immune cells aren’t usually found in the brain when animals are young, but their numbers go up with age.

Dr Vukovic said the research could lead to the development of therapies that could “combat ageing of the brain”.

“Our findings in mice provide a platform for research into the human brain and ageing,” she said.

“Further research could eventually develop therapeutic ways to target specific cell types to combat ageing of the brain.

“These findings support the importance of exercise, particularly for the elderly.”

In addition to getting your daily exercise in to help prevent cognitive decline, a recent study discovered a compelling connection between owning a pet and slowing cognitive decline in older adults.

The Pet Ownership, Living Alone, and Cognitive Decline Among Adults 50 Years and Older study sought to determine whether pet ownership is associated with cognitive decline in older adults, and how pet ownership can mitigate the association between living alone and the rate of cognitive decline.

Researchers regularly tested 7,945 participants aged 50 and above for verbal memory and verbal fluency and evaluated their overall verbal cognition by calculating a composite score.

The study found that pet ownership was associated with slower rates of decline in verbal memory and verbal fluency among individuals living alone, but not among those living with others.

Pet ownership offset the association between living alone and declining rates of verbal memory and verbal fluency.

“In this cohort study, pet ownership was associated with slower rates of decline in verbal memory and verbal fluency among older adults living alone, but not among those living with others, and pet ownership offset the associations between living alone and declining rates in verbal memory and verbal fluency,” researchers said.

“Further studies are needed to assess whether pet ownership slows the rate of cognitive decline in older adults living alone.”

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your personal health requirements or existing medical conditions. That means it’s not personalised health advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a health-related decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get professional medical advice.