It has been long documented that as people reach late adulthood, their bodies and mind don’t function as well as they did when they were younger. This has been attributed to many factors, like poor diet, low levels of exercise, etc. Many studies have shown that we can maintain a healthy body by eating healthier and actively training. However, what of our brain? Is there no way to prevent the deterioration of our brain function? A study done by McDonough, et al. (2015) attempted to shed some light on these questions.
This study revolved around comparing the brain activity of individuals between the ages of 60-90. The participants were then separated into one of two groups, a high-challenge group and a low-challenge group. The high-challenge group was tasked with spending roughly 25 hours a week, over a 14-week period, on learning enhanced skills in digital photography and quilting. These activities were chosen as they provide a sustained challenge and depend on acquiring new skills. Conversely, the low-challenge group spent 15 hours a week performing menial tasks, with no new skill acquisition, like socializing, listening to music, or watching movies. The next task was to compare the changes in brain activity, if any existed.
To measure the participant’s cognitive abilities, two types of tests were used. One involved the use of an fMRI, also known as functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measures brain activity by monitoring blood flow. Blood flow occurs when the cells in our brain are working actively, if there is more blood flow to a certain region, we can deduce that the particular region is working very hard on whatever task is at hand. This imaging was done during tests that measured memory. The second test measured language fluency, by asking the participant to list off as many words as they could that began with a certain letter. Both of these tests were done before the 14-week testing period, and after. Upon comparison of the pretest and posttest results, it was shown that large differences in brain activity existed between the groups.
The high-challenge group had many areas of the brain, including the medial frontal, lateral temporal, and parietal cortex showing increased brain modulation when compared to the low-challenge group. Modulation is a term that can be used to describe the efficiency of our brain. Our brain cells normally function by releasing a chemical to induce a reaction out of another single brain cell. However, modulation refers to a subset of these chemicals which, when released, can induce a reaction out of an array of brain cells. This allows for faster transmission and processing of information. The three areas mentioned are thought to be involved in both attention and language/logic processing. This relates to the data the researches collected, as the high-challenge group showed better scores in both the memory and language fluency tests.
The study suggests that as we age, partaking in routine tasks constantly isn’t beneficial to the health of our brain. We need to actively try to challenge our mind and attempt undertaking activities we have never done before. Particularly, we must focus on activities that require much of our attention and provide us with a new skill set. Through this, we can maintain a higher level of efficiency in different parts of our brain – improving our attention capabilities, our logic processing, and our memory.
Sources
Mcdonough, I. M., Haber, S., Bischof, G. N., & Park, D. C. 2015. The Synapse Project: Engagement in mentally challenging activities enhances neural efficiency. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience 33: 865-882.
