Stronger legs – stronger head
Scientists have learned how leg strength affects brain aging
Elena Subbotina, Rossiyskaya Gazeta
Scientists have found new evidence in favor of the fact that sports help keep our brain young.
Squats, lunges and walking can be the key to maintaining healthy and youthful mental strength, a new study conducted by scientists from King's College London (Fitter legs linked to a 'fitter' brain – VM) has shown. For the first time, experts were able to trace the connection between the strength of a person's legs and how his brain ages.
In the course of the study, scientists observed the indicators of 324 healthy identical female twins aged 43-73 years for 10 years. During this period, various prognostic factors related to health and lifestyle were evaluated. Also at the beginning and at the end of the experiment, the researchers tested the levels of thinking, learning ability and memory of the volunteers. In addition, the genetic factor was taken into account.
It turned out that the strength of the leg muscles turned out to be a better predictor of cognitive changes than any other lifestyle-related factors.
In general, twins who had higher leg strength at the initial stage had better cognitive abilities, and they had fewer changes in the brain associated with aging after 10 years.
Tomograms of the brains of trained (left) and untrained (right) twins – VM
Earlier studies involving animals have already shown that physical activity can have a beneficial effect on the aging process of the brain. So, it turned out that during exercise, hormones are released in the body that stimulate the growth of nerve cells.
The results of the study were published in the journal Gerontology (Steves et al., Kicking Back Cognitive Aging: Leg Power Predicts Cognitive Aging after Ten Years in Older Female Twins – VM).
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10.11.2015