People who exercise are known to do better on memory tests. Now researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered why those who exercise have better memory retention.

Researchers used an MRI technique developed at Columbia to study the brains of people who had just exercised. They were able to identify the growth of new neurons in the dentate gyrus, a region of the brain within the hippocampus.

Exercise targets the dentate gyrus, which underlies normal age-related memory decline that begins around age 30 for most adults. The dentate gyrus is the one area of the brain where new neurons are generated, and exercise improves this process.

“Our next step is to identify the exercise regimen that is most beneficial to improve cognition and reduce normal memory loss, so that physicians may be able to prescribe specific types of exercise to improve memory,” said Scott A. Small, M.D., associate professor of neurology at Columbia University Medical Center and the study’s lead author.

Columbia Study - New Reason to Hit The Gym: Fighting Memory Loss

Research has shown that playing video games sharpens vision. New studies done in Tel Aviv now indicate that playing specific types of computer games can sharpen your mind.

MindFit computer software was specifically designed to take advantage of the plasticity of the brain and using cognitive training, improve mental abilities such as short-term memory, auditory short term memory, location memory, spatial orientation, planning, speed of reaction and hand-eye coordination.

The studies conducted at the Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center of Tel- Aviv University in Israel, involved two groups of subjects age 50 and older who were assigned to spend 30 minutes, three times a week, playing either the MindFit software or sophisticated computer games.

All the participants benefited from playing the computer games but those using the MindFit software made greater gains in cognitive performance.

The research proves that seniors and boomers can significantly boost cognitive ability and preserve mental function through the use of cognitive training. Because those with lower baseline cognitive performance made greater gains than those with normal cognition, it could also prove to be a defense against age-related decline.

A co-worker of mine goes out every day for a walk/run up and down the roads and hills surrounding our office building - rain or shine, summer or winter. When asked why she goes out running in single digit temperatures, she exclaims, “Because it makes me feel good!”

Everyone knows the mood-elevating benefits of a good workout. When we don’t get exercise, or think we are not getting enough, it can affect how we feel emotionally, but can it affect us physically?

A new study by Harvard University psychologist Ellen Langer and her student Alia Crum indicates that mind-set can inhibit or enhance the health benefits of exercise. In other words, what you do physically in your daily routine will be more beneficial to you health-wise if you are aware of the exercise you are getting.

Researchers studied 84 female hotel housekeepers. Women in 4 hotels were told that the exercise they got while cleaning rooms was sufficient to meet the requirements for a healthy and active lifestyle. Women in 3 other hotels were told nothing.

Four weeks later, the researchers assessed the women’s health. On average, the women who were informed that their work was healthy exercise had lost 2 pounds, lowered their blood pressure and improved their BMI (body mass index). The changes were significantly higher than in the group of women who were told nothing.

Researchers call this the “placebo effect”. The research shows that our mind-set plays a role in our health and that many of the beneficial results of exercise are due to the placebo effect; we reap more benefits from exercise if we expect to.