Recently, the group of Science Behind MemTrain was invited to participate in the 17th International Symposium of Sport Psychology, when we speak about aging, exercise and brain. This was the abstract of the meeting.
“The scientific community is showing great interest in the study of chronic and acute effects of physical exercise on cognitive function and psychological well-being (McMorris, 2016). There is currently a consensus about the positive effects of physical exercise on cognition (Chang et al., 2012) and well-being (Redd and Ones, 2006) and the study of dose-response relations in exercise is a current challenge in physical activity science (Curlik, and Shors, 2013).
However, more studies are needed to understand the relations between intensities, durations and type of exercise and cognitive function and well-being (Harveson et al., 2016).
To answer these questions, this symposium will present investigations that study these topics from different perspectives. In this symposium we will present;
- a) Two studies evaluating the effect of a set of sessions of physical activity with different intensity and type, on the stroop effect in older people.
- b) Studies that show that the epigenetic changes are related to a molecular response adaptive to physical exercise and stress, and the relationship of these changes on the preservation and maintenance of health.
- c) A review about the effectiveness of exercise for preventing and treating Alzheimer´s disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), with a special emphasis on the benefits of a specific exercise program for people with MCI.
- d) The preliminary results of a study analyzing the motives for adherence to a long term exercise program of people with MCI and mild AD, including methodological considerations for working with this population.”
Author: Diego Pastor, University of Miguel Hernández