🔋ATP#11: Aging Backwards Is Possible

It’s normalized in society and public discourse that aging is associated with cognitive decline.

That forgetfulness and moments of confusion? Symptoms of normal aging.

Neuroscience backs this up:

1. Older adults experience a yearly loss of brain volume in certain regions, such as the hippocampus. Often referred to as the brain’s memory center, it loses about 1-2% of its volume each year with age.

2. Neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to reorganize itself) also declines with age. This means that creating new neuronal connections gets harder, which makes learning new things more difficult.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way.

Enter Arthur Kramer, one of the most renowned brain scientists alive.

His research shows: You can reverse brain aging. And it’s not even complicated or expensive.

Who’s Dr. Kramer?

He’s a professor of Psychology at Northeastern University in the US and the Director of the Center for Cognitive & Brain Health at this institution.

His publication record is impressive: He has published over 1,000 scientific articles, and he’s been cited over 100,000 times!

Kramer is now in his seventies and continues to be an active researcher, as well as physically active.

How to reverse brain aging

Kramer’s research shows that you can reverse hippocampus shrinkage and age-related cognitive decline - and you can do it without fancy drugs, supplements, or high-cost tools.

In a key study from his lab, elderly participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups:

• Exercise group: 3 brisk 40-minute walks per week.

• Control group: 3 sessions of stretching exercises per week.

Both groups followed these activities for a year.

The results after the 1-year intervention were fascinating:

• Hippocampus volume increased by 2% in the exercise group, while the control group showed the expected “normal” age-related volume loss of 1%.

• Greater improvements in fitness in the exercise group were associated with stronger volume increases in the hippocampus.

• Hippocampal volume increases significantly correlated with memory improvements.

So, instead of the yearly 1-2% volume loss in the hippocampus, characteristic of older age, regular aerobic exercise lead to a volume increase!

In other words, exercise not only slows down the aging process. It reverses it!

Aerobic exercise has been most investigated to date, but other types of exercise (e.g., resistance training) also appear to be beneficial in helping older adults stay sharp - they just haven’t been studied as much yet.

Is it only about exercise?

Dr. Kramer’s research focuses on physical activity, but he emphasizes that the following lifestyle factors should also be considered for healthy aging:

• Diet

• Sleep

• Stress reduction

• Social connection

• Intellectual challenge

All these are essential pillars for long-term health, in addition to physical activity.

Wrapping up

Dr. Kramer’s research shows: You’re not a victim of aging.

You can slow down or even reverse brain shrinkage & cognitive decline in older age.

And zero-cost or low-cost tools are sufficient for this.

Until next time!

Best wishes,

Patricia (Dr. Schmidt) from creatorschmidt.com.