Computer Use and Exercise May Reduce the Odds of Memory Loss, Mayo Clinic

The study examined exercise, computer use and the relationship to neurological risks such as mild cognitive impairment.

Alzheimer's Reading Room

Combining mentally stimulating activities, such as using a computer, with moderate exercise decreases your odds of having memory loss more than computer use or exercise alone, a Mayo Clinic study shows.

Previous studies have shown that exercising your body and your mind will help your memory but the new study, published in the May 2012 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, reports a synergistic interaction between computer activities and moderate exercise in "protecting" the brain function in people better than 70 years old.

Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Email:

Computer Use and Exercise Combo May Reduce the Odds of Having Memory Loss, Mayo Clinic Finds

Combining mentally stimulating activities, such as using a computer, with moderate exercise decreases your odds of having memory loss more than computer use or exercise alone, a Mayo Clinic study shows.

Previous studies have shown that exercising your body and your mind will help your memory but the new study, published in the May 2012 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, reports a synergistic interaction between computer activities and moderate exercise in "protecting" the brain function in people better than 70 years old.

Researchers studies 926 people in Olmsted County, Minn., ages 70 to 93, who completed self-reported questionnaires on physical exercise, and computer use within one year prior of the date of interview.

Moderate physical exercise was defined as brisk walking, hiking, aerobics, strength training, golfing without a golf cart, swimming, doubles tennis, yoga, martial arts, using exercise machines and weightlifting. Mentally stimulating activities included reading, crafts, computer use, playing games, playing music, group and social and artistic activities and watching less television.

Of those activities the study singled out computer use because of its popularity, said study author Yonas E. Geda, M.D., a physician scientist with Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

"The aging of baby boomers is projected to lead to dramatic increases in the prevalence of dementia," Dr. Geda said. "As frequent computer use has becoming increasingly common among all age groups, it is important to examine how it relates to aging and dementia. Our study further adds to this discussion."

The study examined exercise, computer use and the relationship to neurological risks such as mild cognitive impairment, Dr. Geda says.

Mild cognitive impairment is the intermediate stage between normal memory loss that comes with aging and early Alzheimer's disease.

Of the study participants who did not exercise and did not use a computer, 20.1 percent were cognitively normal and 37.6 percent showed signs of mild cognitive impairment.

Of the participants who both exercise and use a computer, 36 percent were cognitively normal and 18.3 percent showed signs of MCI.

Dr. Geda expects that this study will lead to more research on this topic.

The study co-authors include Ronald C. Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., and other investigators at the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging in Rochester, Minn. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Robert H. and Clarice Smith and Abigail Van Buren Alzheimer's Disease Research Program.
____________________

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit MayoClinic.com

More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room

What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia

Something Had to Change

Alzheimer's Caregivers are the Chosen

What is Alzheimer's Disease?

What is Dementia?

Communicating in Alzheimer's World

Alzheimer's and Learning How to Trust

Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease

Rewiring My Brain and Stepping into Alzheimer's World

Why I Invented Alzheimer's World and the Power of Positive Reinforcement

Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Alzheimer's Disrupts Brain Networks

Precise measurement of changes in brain networks are critical to understanding Alzheimer's and will likely be important in models of other neurodegenerative disorders.

Alzheimer's Reading Room

I found this research interesting because the focus is on the brain as a network. One of the problems in dementia is the disruption of the functional connectivity of brain regions.

Earlier today I wrote, Alzheimer's and Learning How to Trust, and basically what I was saying is that Dotty compensates for these disconnects by stringing together diverse information in her brain and weaving some rather "tall tales".

In my story about my brother, Billy, I mentioned that Dotty talked to him on the phone. Not long after, she told someone he had come into the condo, looked around and gone back home. So you could say, she remembered talking to him and that was about it. The rest of the story was made up. It almost seems like she grabs a few pieces of a puzzles and puts them together. Not tightly like when you are doing a puzzle, but pulls them together into a jumble to make a story. To us the jumble makes no sense, but to Dotty the same jumble makes perfect sense.

Understanding of the diverse parts of the brain network could lead to a better understanding of Alzheimer's, and a possible treatment.

Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Email:

Alzheimer's plaques disrupt brain networks

Scientist studying the way Alzheimer's takes root in the brain have identified important new similarities between a mouse model and human Alzheimer's.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that brain plaques in mice are associated with disruption of the ability of brain regions to network with each other. This decline parallels earlier results from human studies, suggesting that what scientists learn about Alzheimer's effects on brain networks in the mice will likely be transferable to human disease research.

The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, is among the first to precisely quantify the effects of Alzheimer's disease plaques on brain networks in an animal model. Until now, scientists studying Alzheimer's in animals have generally been limited to assessments of structural brain damage and analyses of brain cell activity levels.

"Precise measurement of changes in brain networks are critical to understanding Alzheimer's and will likely be important in models of other neurodegenerative disorders," says senior author David M. Holtzman, MD, the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and head of the Department of Neurology. "For example, we can now test whether blocking Alzheimer's plaques from building up in the mouse brain prevents disruptions in brain networks."

In humans, scientists assess the integrity of brain networks by monitoring cerebral blood flow with functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. When the brain is idle, blood flow rises and falls in sync in brain regions that network with each other, a phenomenon called functional connectivity. These links are believed to be an important component of normal brain activity. In humans, problems in functional connectivity appear to presage the development of dementia.

Applying the same technique to mice can be very challenging, according to Holtzman. Instead, researchers used an approach for monitoring brain blood flow in mice recently developed by the lab of Joseph Culver, PhD, associate professor of radiology at Washington University. The technique involves mounting a ring with light-emitting diodes on the head of a lightly anesthetized mouse. Sensors in the ring monitor light that is reflected back from hemoglobin molecules flowing through blood vessels in the brain. This data can be used to quickly assess blood flow.

Researchers applied the approach to a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. They found that the brain regions with the strongest network connections in young mice developed the most plaques as the mice aged. As plaques accumulated in these regions, functional connectivity declined. Scientists have already found similar results in humans using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

A link between stronger brain networking in young mice and increased signs of Alzheimer's in older mice may seem contradictory, but it echoes earlier studies in Holtzman's laboratory that linked higher activity levels in individual brain cells to increased plaque deposition.

Holtzman and others have speculated that the types of information and functions encoded in the activities of brain cells and networks may affect their impact on Alzheimer's risk. Epidemiological studies have shown that brain stimulation, such as puzzles, reading or learning, is associated with reduced risk of Alzheimer's. Leaving the brain idle for long periods of time may increase risk.

The mice studied in the research have a mutated form of a human protein, Alzheimer's precursor protein, that causes them to develop brain plaques. Other mouse models have mutated versions of a protein called tau that lead to the development of neurofibrillary tangles, which are another hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

Holtzman, Culver and colleagues plan to test functional connectivity in mouse models with mutated versions of human tau. The results may help determine the effects of additional types of protein aggregates in the brain, according to Holtzman.

"Important new insights into the normal and dysfunctional human brain have been made via studies of functional connectivity," Holtzman says. "Being able to analyze brain function from a similar perspective in animal models, where we have much more freedom to manipulate genes and proteins, should be very helpful in our efforts to understand and treat complex conditions like Alzheimer's disease."
_____________________
Bero AW, Bauer AQ, Stewart FR, White BR, Cirrito JR, Raichle ME, Culver JP, Holtzman DM. Bidirectional relationship between functional connectivity and amyloid-beta deposition in mouse brain. Journal of Neuroscience, March 28, 2012.

Funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Medical-Scientist Training Program, the Ellison Medical Foundation and the Cure Alzheimer's Fund supported this research.

More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room

• How Alzheimer's Spreads Throughout the Brain
• Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Self Assessment Tests)
• What is Alzheimer's Disease?
• What is Dementia?
• What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
• Communicating in  Alzheimer's World
• How the Loss of Memory Works in Alzheimer’s Disease, and How Understanding This Could Help You
• Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
• Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
• Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients
• Driving with Alzheimer's Can Mean Death
• About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Alzheimer's group seeks $2 billion a year for research

Alzheimer's Reading Room

William Thies

Finding a cure or way to slow down the progression of the disease would require $2 billion in yearly funds, said William Thies, chief medical and scientific officer for the Alzheimer's Association.

"Without the spending in that range ($2 billion), we're not going to see the progress we need to see," he said. He adds that the last successful research to find a treatment for a symptom of the disease was in 2003. "You can't make progress with the sort of investments made to date."

Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Email:

The National Institute on Aging is holding a May summit to gather expert input for research priorities. Among those expected to attend, Thies said, are 16 highly esteemed researchers who developed the $2 billion price tag for research.

Read more in the USA Today

More Insight and Advice from the Alzheimer's Reading Room

• How Alzheimer's Spreads Throughout the Brain
• Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Self Assessment Tests)
• What is Alzheimer's Disease?
• What is Dementia?
• What’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
• Communicating in  Alzheimer's World
• How the Loss of Memory Works in Alzheimer’s Disease, and How Understanding This Could Help You
• Learning How to Communicate with Someone Suffering From Alzheimer's Disease
• Alzheimer's World -- Trying to Reconnect with Someone Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
• Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients
• Driving with Alzheimer's Can Mean Death
• About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

You are reading original content from the Alzheimer's Reading Room. For more information on Alzheimer's and dementia go here. If you would like a free email subscription click here.