24 Oct SuperAgers- How Do They Do It?
Cognitive abilities, including memory, usually decline with age. However, some people who are referred to as SuperAgers, retain memory function of individuals much younger. Why is this? Recently a study set out to determine associations with those who SuperAge to see if we could find out why they age so well. Here are some of the things they discovered:
- There association between SuperAging and better movement speed. Does that mean if you focus on your optimizing your physical movement, your mental abilities may benefit?
- Specifically, SuperAgers’ performed better in the timed up-and-go test and the finger tapping test with the dominant hand, and had exceptional memory, better mobility, agility, and balance than do typical older adults.
- Physical exercise may improve cognition (or prevent dementia); the potential mechanisms for this include indirect effects on certain modifiable risk factors (e.g., cardiovascular fitness, obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension, dyslipidaemia) and direct effects on the brain, such as increased cerebral blood flow and expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor.
- The researchers also found that SuperAgers complain less frequently about not getting enough sleep, and report satisfying, high-quality relationships.
Do these factors cause better cognitive abilities as we age, or do those who have better cognitive abilities cultivate this kind of life? It may be worth implementing this lifestyle just in case it is the former.
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