Physical exercise can keep your brain young

In an investigation of more established men between ages 64-75 years, the specialists found that the fitter men performed preferable rationally over the less fit men, by utilizing parts of their brains as a part of the same route as in their childhood.

Lead study author Hideaki Soya along with colleagues from the University of Tsukuba, Japan worked to determine link between brain health, cognitive function, physical fitness and the role of exercises.

The test required that they report the color of the letters as opposed to the color spelled out in each word. In other words, fit older people are more likely to use their brains the way they did when they were young, compared to older people seeing a decline in this area.

This change is known as HAROLD (hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults), and reflects adaptations of the brain necessary to make up for reduced brain capacity and efficiency caused by age-related structural and physiological decline. The men then performed tests to measure selective attention, executive function and reaction time. When we're young, we use the left side of the brain more than the right. The men were asked to share the color they saw, not the color they read.

The results show that older adults tend to have both sides of their PFC active during the Stroop test, without having a difference between right and left regions.

Stroop-interference-related cortical activation patterns are shown. This reaction time is used as a measurement of brain function.

Analysis of the relationship between brain activity and Stroop reaction time revealed that those men that favored the left side of the PFC while performing the Stroop test had faster reaction times. The men were shown words in colors like black, blue and red except the actual color of the words were not the color which was stated. Their research was conducted on Japanese men and found that the fitter the man, the better he performed mentally.

In order to examine whether physical fitness can retain a few youthful qualities of the brain, the team carried out aerobic fitness in 60 older men. This technique provides a measure of blood oxygen concentration in surface blood vessels, indicative of activity in the brain's outer layers, using a set of wearable probes in a cap that is placed on the head. The bottom line is more exercise on a daily basis may very well lead to a younger better performing brain. The University of Tsukuba reported on October. 23, 2015, the secret to a younger brain may be in exercising your body. There has been evidence which supports the theory that adults who are fitter are able to better maintain this white matter than adults who are not as fit.

• Cleveland Cavaliers Rumors and Schedule: LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, Kevin

• Carson opens up double-digit lead on Trump

• Comet Lovejoy Spews Alcohol, Sugar in Space, Earning Nickname 'Happy Hour Comet'