Staying Sharp by Keeping Fit

By Gregory Kellett, a cognitive neuroscience researcher at SFSU and science writer for Lumos Labs.

It turns out there may be a link between cardiovascular fitness and the size of one’s hippocampus, a portion of the brain important for the formation of new memories.

Researchers from the University of Illinois and the University of Pittsburgh, looked at the cardiovascular fitness of 165 adults between the ages of 59 and 81. They also measured (via MRI) the size of each participant’s hippocampus and tested for spatial reasoning abilities.

What they found:

• Elderly adults who are physically fit tend to have larger hippocampi than those who are less fit.
• Having a larger hippocampus is correlated with better performance on spatial memory tasks.

Exercise has been linked to hippocampus size and spatial memory in rodents, but this is the first study to demonstrate a similar relationship in humans.

This is good news because although variable between individuals, it is well established that the hippocampus typically shrinks with age and that this shrinkage is associated with subtle but definite declines in memory and spatial orientation.

References:

Erickson, K. I., Prakash, R. S., Voss, M. W., Chaddock, L., Hu, L., Morris, K. S., et al. (2009). Aerobic fitness is associated with hippocampal volume in elderly humans. Hippocampus.

Kitabatake, Y., Sailor, K. A., Ming, G., & Song, H. (2007). Adult neurogenesis and hippocampal memory function: new cells, more plasticity, new memories? Neurosurgery Clinics of North America, 18(1), 105-13, x.

Spatial Orientation

Spatial Orientation - Spatial Orientation is about having a sense of direction while moving around an environment. It’s a nice skill to have when exploring a new city, following directions to a friends place or navigating towards the bathroom in the dead of night.

USED FOR

•    Sense of direction
•    Visualization
•    Reading maps

Although it may seem that one is either born with a sense of direction or not, it is actually possible to improve at orientating oneself with practice.

References:
Feng, J., Spence, I., & Pratt, J. (2007). Playing an action video game reduces gender differences in spatial cognition. Psychological Science: A Journal of the American Psychological Society / APS, 18(10), 850-5. doi: PSCI1990.

Dorval, M., & Pépin, M. (1986). Effect of playing a video game on a measure of spatial visualization. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 62(1), 159-62.

De Lisi, R., & Wolford, J. L. (2002). Improving children’s mental rotation accuracy with computer game playing. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 163(3), 272-82.

New Brain Game: Penguin Panic

Slip Slidin’ Away…

We are releasing yet another new game…one that targets spatial orientation and develops your sense of direction by requiring you to guide a hungry penguin to a snack. Watch out, though — he’s on ice and things can get slippery, causing your penguin to become disoriented if you are not careful!

Please find our new game here http://games.lumosity.com/penguin_panic.html and, as always, let us know what you think.

Cognitive training and aging

K. Warner Schaie and Sherry L. Willis are two of the more important researchers in the area of aging and cognitive training. They oversee the Seattle Longitudinal Study, which followed adults across many years as they grew older, regularly monitoring their cognitive status. Among their most important findings:

• Through cognitive training (exercises for the brain), older people can improve their abilities.
• Those who have had a decline in their thinking abilities can get back to where they were 14 years earlier.
• Certain abilities are more likely to decline with age than others. Four abilities that typically get worse are:
  • processing speed
  • reasoning
  • memory
  • spatial orientation
• Cognitive training can impact everyday tasks. For example, reasoning training can make people better at solving problems around the household or logistics of transportation.

Reference:

Schaie, K. W., & Willis, S. L. (2005). Intellectual functioning in adulthood: Growth, maintenance, decline and modifiability. Washington, D.C.: American Society on Aging and Metlife Foundation.

Memory Map

Guest author Elizabeth Buchen is a neuroscientist and science writer, and a member of the Lumos Labs science advisory board. Below she describes new research examining how the brain stores a spatial map of the local environment, and how this map might be updated by new information. Visit Madam Fathom to read more about the biological basis of mind.

Imagine being home on a moonless night when the power unexpectedly goes out. You are shrouded by silent darkness, instantly blind to your surroundings. Yet despite this sensory deprivation, you can navigate somewhat effortlessly around the futon, through the doorway of the kitchen, and across to the middle drawer where your lighter is stored, avoiding walls, furniture, and other familiar obstacles along the way. How, without vision or echolocation, did you remember where everything was in relation you and to everything else?

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