Age does affect our physical and mental fitness. It shows how our physical condition affects us mentally especially if we are in our golden years. However, according to International Business Times, a new study shows that older men who are physically fit can perform better mentally because exercise may help them use parts of their brain that are used by younger people.
The study explained how older adults are experiencing what is called HAROLD (hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults). This shows the reorganization of the brain structure that responds to the decreasing brain efficiency and capacity due to age and physical fitness.
This occurs when an older adult use both sides of the prefrontal cortex of the brain when doing mental activities. They are using the left and right PFC to do tasks that involve temporary storage, long-term memories and more.
A previous study found that young adults usually use the left side of the PFC. Now, however, a recent study shows that, those older adults that are physically fit have been found to use the left side of the PFC as well which reveals that they can and have a greater chance to perform better mentally because of this youth-like brain function.
This study was published in NeuroImage, where they measured 60 Japanese men aging 64 to 75 years old with their aerobic before a mental test. The participants were found to be physically fit and were then asked to take "color-word matching Stroop test" to measure their brain function. The Stroop test shows the color names but being asked to name the color of the letters which is different to what they can read.
For example, the word "red" is written in yellow. This will make the brain take time to react, the reaction time is what is being measured by the research team to check for brain activity. The HAROLD syndrome indeed occurs to older adults as it is proven during the Stroop test that without having a difference between right and left regions. Finally, the study shows the direct link between brain activity and brain function.
