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Long before the advent of brain imaging technology, Henry David Thoreau said, "The surface of the earth is soft and impressionable by the feet of men, and so with the paths that the mind travels. How worn and dusty then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity!"
I love this quotation because it captures the principles of brain plasticity and the power of physical activity to improve cognitive flexibility as well as someone's ability to be original and think outside the box. A variety of recent studies have found a link between exercise and creativity.
A new study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has identified that older adults who regularly engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity tend to have better brain function and greater white matter integrity than their less-fit peers. They also have increased cognitive flexibility. Cognitive flexibility represents a person’s ability to switch between modes of thought and to simultaneously think about multiple concepts.
The August 2015 study, "Physical Activity Is Linked to Greater Moment-To-Moment Variability in Spontaneous Brain Activity in Older Adults," was published in the journal PLOS ONE. Instead of focusing on brain structure, the researchers tracked changes in blood-oxygenation levels over time to predict cognitive flexibility and physical health as related to aging and brain function.
The team of researchers from the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology found that people who are regularly active tend to have more variable brain activity at rest than their less-fit peers. These differences in brain stucture are associated with improved brain function which translates into improved cognitive flexibility.
In previous Psychology Today blog posts, I've written about the groundbreaking research that Arthur Kramer, director of the Beckman Institute, and his colleagues have been conducting on how physical activity improves brain structure and function throughout a person's lifespan. Last week, I wrote a blog post "Why Do Aerobically Fit Children Have Better Math Skills?" based on research by Kramer and his colleagues.
When I spoke with Art Kramer last year, he said that one reason exercise might improve white matter integrity is that physical activity gets the blood pumping through the brain and improves vascularization of these capillaries. This new study appears to confirm that hypothesis.
For the current study, which was led by Kramer and postdoctoral researcher Agnieszka Burzynska, PhD, the researchers enlisted 100 adults between the ages of 60 and 80, and used accelerometers to objectively measure their physical activity over a week. Then they used functional MRI (fMRI) brain imaging to observe changes in blood oxygen levels over time, as reflected in each participant's brain activity at rest.
The researchers also evaluated the integrity of each person's white-matter fibers, which allow communication between brain regions and found that, on average, older adults who were more active had better white-matter structure than their less-active peers. Gray matter houses the neurons in specific brain regions. White matter creates communication lines between various brain regions.
Interestingly, the team found that spontaneous brain activity—which is correlated with cognitive flexibility—was reflected by more moment-to-moment fluctuations in an fMRI. These fluctuations appeared more frequently in adults who were regularly active. In a previous study, the team found that the same brain regions associated with cognitive flexibility seen in an fMRI were also linked to performing better on complex cognitive tasks.
Conclusion: Physical Activity and Fitness Improve Cognitive Flexibility
The researchers conclude, “Our results suggest that engaging in higher intensity physical activity may have protective effects on neural processing in aging.” More specifically, the researchers found that older adults who engaged in various intensities of physical activity had greater blood oxygenation level-dependent signals which are known to be associated with better cognitive functioning as we age.
In a press release Art Kramer concluded, "Our study, when viewed in the context of previous studies that have examined behavioral variability in cognitive tasks, suggests that more-fit older adults are more flexible, both cognitively and in terms of brain function, than their less-fit peers."
Moving forward, the ongoing longitudinal and intervention studies being conducted at the Beckman Institute will shed more light on the potential use of neuroimaging to detect the benefits of physical activity as linked to improved brain function, cognitive flexibility, and mental performance. Stay tuned!
If you'd like to read more on this topic, check out my Psychology Today blog posts:
- "Why Does Overthinking Sabotage the Creative Process?"
- "The "Exercise Hormone" Irisin Is NOT a Myth"
- "Why Does Physical Inactivity Drain Human Brain Power?"
- "Very Small Amounts of Exercise Can Reap Huge Benefits"
- "Scientists Discover Why Exercise Makes You Smarter"
- "Why Is Physical Activity So Good for Your Brain?"
- "Too Much Crystallized Thinking Lowers Fluid Intelligence"
- "Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone Keeps You Sharp"
- "Why Does Walking Stimulate Creative Thinking?"
- "The Neuroscience of Imagination"
© 2015 Christopher Bergland. All rights reserved.
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