Adult Development and Aging

Student no. 48........

Question1

Research shows

clearly that brain

plasticity is enhanced

as a result of aerobic

exercise(Thomas,Den

nis,Bandettlni,&Johan

sen-Berg,2012

EFFECTS OF AEROBIC

EXERCISE ON COGNITIVE AGING

Eickson and his

colleagues (2009) did a

research

Some studies have

even shown that

aerobic exercise can

counter the declines in

the hippocampus

associated with

Alzheimers disease

(Erickson et al,

2009,Intlekofer&Cotma

n,2013)

Unique no:576246

PYC4805-ADULTHOOD

Hippocampus,located in

the middle of the

brain,is a key structure

associated with

memory.

The were interested in learning wether aerobic exercise

any effect on the volume of hippocampus, a

key brain feature connected to

memory.

They had older adults exercise on a motorized

treadmill while their blood pressure

respiration and heart rate

were continuously

monitored.

They had their participants complete a spatial memory task and had

an MRI to measure hippocampal volume.it was found that

higher aerobic fitness level were associated with the

preservation of greater hippocampal volume,

which was a predictor of how well

participants performed on

the spatial memory

IMPLICATIONS

task

Research has also

shown that basic

cognitive processes

affected by aging can

indeed be improved

through training and

they transfer to

multiple other kinds of

functioning as long as

the tasks share the

same basic underlying

functions

EFFECTS OF

ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT ON

NEURAL PLASTICITY IN AGING

HUMANS

Baltes and colleagues

found that whereas

older adults are able

to improve their

cognitive ability in

memory tasks through

tailored strategy

training beyond the

level of untrained

younger adults,this is

highly task specific

and the ability level

gains are very narrow

in focus.

Plasticity

involves changes

in structure as

well as function

of the brain as a

result of

interaction

between the

brain and

environment...