Exercise and social activities slow down brain ageing
Published: Thursday, Dec 14th 2023, 10:40
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Exercise and social activities slow down the ageing of an important brain region. Researchers at the University of Zurich were able to show that the so-called entorhinal cortex loses less thickness with age in people who are more physically and socially active.
The entorhinal cortex is a region of the brain that plays an important role in memory, as the University of Zurich (UZH) explained in a press release on Thursday. The cortex, which is around 3.5 millimeters thick, is part of the cerebral cortex and acts as an interface between the hippocampus and other brain regions involved in memory formation and retrieval.
The thickness of the entorhinal cortex is closely linked to memory performance, as the UZH researchers were able to show in a study published in the journal "Neuroimage". The greater the thinning of the entorhinal cortex, the greater the memory loss.
The brain can be trained
The researchers investigated the relationships between the thickness of the entorhinal cortex, memory performance and leisure activities in cognitively healthy adults over the age of 65 over a period of seven years.
In people who were more physically active at the beginning of the study and met up with friends and family more often, the thickness of the entorhinal cortex and thus also memory performance decreased less over the seven years. "Physical exercise and active leisure activities with friends and family are therefore important for brain health and can prevent neurodegeneration in later life," said study leader Lutz Jäncke in the UZH press release.
It was also found that a higher memory performance at the beginning of the study was associated with a lower decline. The brain can therefore be trained like a muscle, explained the UZH.
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