Strength Training = More Muscle Mass = Younger Brain!

 

Yes its true!    Strength training is not just good for the body – it is a very important tool to keep the brain healthy!     For example, in a recent study researchers did a 12 month-controlled trial with a group of 115 woman age 65 – 75.    The study was focused on the effects of strength training on White Matter Disease.

White Matter Disease is the wearing away of tissue in the largest and deepest part of your brain that has a number of causes, including aging. This tissue contains millions of nerve fibers, or axons, that connect other parts of the brain and spinal cord and signal your nerves to talk to one another. A fatty material called myelin protects the fibers and gives white matter its color.   White Matter Disease is diagnosed by doing an MRI of the brain and shows up as White Matter Lesions.

This type of brain tissue helps you think fast, walk straight, and keeps you from falling.    When it becomes diseased and the myelin covering breaks down the signals that need to flow through your nerve fibers cannot get through properly.   Symptoms include:

Trouble learning or remembering things.

A hard time problem solving.

Slowed Thinking

Leaking Urine

Problems Walking

Balance Issues and Falling

The researchers did MRI’s pre and post study to measure changes in White Matter Lesions.    The woman who participated in twice weekly strength training sessions showed significantly reduced White Matter Disease Progression and maintenance of walking speed.

Another recent study did a study on older people with a high risk of Alzheimer’s Disease due to mild cognitive impairment.    Mild Cognitive Impairment involves a decline in memory and other thinking skills despite generally intact daily living skills and is one of the strongest risk factors for dementia.    People with mild cognitive impairment are at a one-in-ten risk of developing full blown dementia within a year.

The long-term study showed that strength training led to overall benefits to cognitive performance and reduced degeneration in specific regions within the hippocampus.  The hippocampus is a complex structure of the brain that is critical for learning and memory.   The regions that were targeted by strength training were those known to be especially vulnerable to Alzheimer’s Disease.