Senior Brain Health- Cognition or
Perspiration?
Patrick Foo
Assoc. Prof., Psychology
Former Director, Neuroscience, UNCA
Collaborators
• Dr. Angel Kaur, Director Neuroscience
• Dr. Jason Wingert, Dept. Health Wellness
Promotion
• Student researchers: Sarah Luca, Elliot Nauert,
Keith Chichester, Jeannie Buckner, Catherine
Welder, Serena Vonkchalee, Stephanie Rerych,
Jacob Wisnoski, Clair Powell, Alex Schaeffer,
Quentin Reynolds, Melissa Allen, and Abbey Allen
Are online brain training programs like
Lumosity effective for improving cognitive
performance in seniors?
Outline for today’s talk
• Human Brain Anatomy – which structures
in the brain are we training?
• Our study on Cognitive Brain Training
• Perspiration: Exercise and Brain Health
• Meditation and Brain Health
• A Holisitic Approach to health and aging
Outline for today’s talk
• Human Brain Anatomy – which structures
in the brain are we training?
• Our study on Cognitive Brain Training
• Perspiration: Exercise and Brain Health
• Meditation and Brain Health
• A Holisitic Approach to health and aging
Outline for today’s talk
• Human Brain Anatomy – which structures
in the brain are we training?
• Our study on Cognitive Brain Training
• Perspiration: Exercise and Brain Health
• Meditation and Brain Health
• A Holisitic Approach to health and aging
Human Brain Anatomy– which
structures in the brain are we training?
Let’s use less-complicated brains to start…
Human development of the blastula:
a hollow ball of cells
Blastula forming a Neural Tube
Neural Tube forms into the Brain &
Spinal Cord
What are the functions of each
section of the neural tube?
The Spinal cord connects brain and body
Somatic
Autonomic
All Chordates have a spinal cord,
but their brains differ
The Hindbrain
Hindbrain controls our Physiological Needs
(Homeostasis)
Hindbrain controls our Physiological Needs
(Homeostasis)
Cerebellum allows us to navigate (safety)
Bony Fish (Nemo) that navigate
have a larger Cerebellum
cerebellum
cerebellum
Birds/humans have the largest
cerebellum
• Accuracy, fluidity of
fine motor
movements, &
balance
Midbrain also keeps us safe (visual orienting)
Midbrain also keeps us safe (motor programs)
Forebrain (thalamus, hypothalamus, and limbic system)
supports mammalian development and parenting
Forebrain (thalamus, hypothalamus, pituitary) supports
mammalian development and parenting
Forebrain (thalamus, hypothalamus, pituitary)
supports the 4 F’s (basic drives)
Forebrain (limbic system and basal ganglia)
supports emotions, learning, movement
The limbic system allows for shortcuts for
intuitive responses
Kahneman’s System 1, Ariely, Gladwell
Finally, we have a cerebral cortex at the
(top) end of our neural tube
?
Reason & Logic, Rational, Abstract thinking
e.g. Expected Utility Theory in Economics
Kahneman’s system 2, Phineas Gage
The cortex supports high level
perception and cognitive processing
Occipital: Vision
(color/motion/texture)
Temporal: Hearing
(speech/language) Memory
Parietal: Touch (pressure/pain)
spatial orienting
Frontal: Executive functions,
problem solving, movement
Cognitive Brain Training focuses on
the Cortex!
Memory, Speed, Attention,
Problem solving (both
Crystallized and Fluid),
Flexibility
Outline for today’s talk
• Human Brain Anatomy – which structures
in the brain are we training?
• Our study on Cognitive Brain Training
• Perspiration: Exercise and Brain Health
• Meditation and Brain Health
• A Holisitic Approach to health and aging
Cognitive Brain Training has been
around for awhile!
• Ebbinghaus’ Memory test (1885)
– How many nonsense syllables can you
remember?
CEF
DAX
YOV
VUX
GEX
JID
ZIL
LAJ
MYV
• John Ridley Stroop’s Flexibility test (1935)
– Can you inhibit “automatic” reading?
• John C. Raven’s Progressive Matrices test (1936)
– What is the next logical pattern?
Lumosity online Brain Training
Lumosity claimed skill transfer
• Training one skill, improving in another
• Working memory  fluid intelligence
• Cognitive flexibility  fluid intelligence
General
Intelligence
Fluid
Intelligence
Crystallized
Intelligence
Controversy: will skills transfer?
Support
• Lumos Labs
• Jaeggi et al. 2008
Opposition
• Redick et al., 2013
Shipstead et al., 2012
• Melby-Lervåg, 2013
• Open letter, 2014
Class project created by Dr. Kaur
• Lack of active control
• Small sample sizes
• If Lumosity can help “any
brain” get better, why not
test young brains at their
peak?
What is “Fluid Intelligence?”
General Intelligence
Fluid Intelligence
Crystallized Intelligence
Crystallized Intelligence
• Crystallized Intelligence
– Facts, figures, rules; Math, language
– Can be TRAINED
Fluid Intelligence: “Aha!”
• Fluid Intelligence
– Abstract thought, pattern recognition,
visuospatial reasoning
– Insight learning
Goals
1. Will memory and flexibility training transfer cognitive
skills to fluid intelligence?
2. Identify the effects of cognitive training in the
cognitively healthy and stimulated population of
college students
?
Methods
Participants
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Undergraduates
18-24 years old
< 1 week of formal brain training experience
81 completed
Pre- and post- tests
Participants randomly assigned to 1 of 5 groups
Brain training for 6 weeks
Pre/Post Tests: Memory and
Flexibility
• Working memory:
Memory span
• Cognitive Flexibility:
The Stroop Task
Pre/Post Tests: Fluid Intelligence
• Paper Folding:
Visuospatial
Reasoning
• Matrix Reasoning:
Pattern Recognition
5 Randomized Test Groups
Control 1: No
Contact
Control 2:
Alternate TaskSudoku
Control 3:
Crystallized
Intelligence TaskTrivia
Did not engage
in any “brain
training”
exercises
Medium
Trivia games, 20
difficulty Sudoku minutes, 3-5
puzzles, 20
times per week
minutes, 3-5
times per week
Experimental 1:
Memory
Lumosity
Experimental 2:
Flexibility
Lumosity
Memory-focused
Lumosity™
training, 20
minutes, 3-5
times per week
Flexibilityfocused
Lumosity
training, 20
minutes, 3-5
times per week
Results
• Working memory
All groups improved their
memory F(1,79)= 10.200,
p= 0.002, no sig.
difference between groups
•
Flexibility
All groups improved on the
Stroop F(1,79)= 4.245, p=
0.043. no sig. difference
between groups
Results: Fluid Intelligence
• Paper Folding
All groups improved their
memory F(1,79)= 5.593,
p= 0.021. no sig.
difference between groups.
•
Matrix Reasoning
All groups improved their
memory F(1,79)= 14.845,
p< 0.001 no sig.
difference between groups.
Conclusions and Implications
• Online brain training programs like
Lumosity can improve cognitive
performance in seniors but only for specific
tasks
?
Outline for today’s talk
• Human Brain Anatomy – which structures
in the brain are we training?
• Our study on Cognitive Brain Training
• Perspiration: Exercise and Brain Health
• Meditation and Brain Health
• A Holisitic Approach to health and aging
What about Perspiration?
What about Perspiration?
fMRI measures the metabolic demands (BOLD
Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent) of active
neurons of 0.1-5% with increased cognition….
(e.g. Lindquist et al., 2008)
During intense exercise cardiac output can
increase 400-800% and stimulate capillary
growth and even neurogenesis via BDNF
brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the
(rodent) brain (Swain et al., 2003)
Increased vascular health is of course
important for stroke prevention
Can it also improve cognitive functioning?
Humans show tantalizing links between
exercise and brain health
Leg extension power predicts cognitive aging and global
brain structure in identical twins (Steves et al., 2015).
Nature vs. Nurture?
Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MV-PA) is more
associated greater brain structural and functional integrity,
than existing Higher cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF)
(Burzynska et al., 2015)
“use it or lose it”
Only 20% of Americans get the recommended 150
minutes of strength and cardiovascular physical activity
per week, & more than half of all baby boomers report
doing no exercise whatsoever (TIME, Sept. 2016)
Does this mean one must become a gym rat?
Green Exercise is better for you!
Running outside resulted in significant increases in
positive emotions and decreases in negative
emotions, and higher pride with natural than
laboratory running for recreational runners
(Hansmann, Hug, & Seeland, 2007; Kerr, et al.,
2006; McKay and Neill, 2010)
Green Exercise is better for you!
Less strenuous exercises like walking and being outdoors
during free-time was evaluated as the most enjoyable and
effective activity for recovery from stress (Crust et al.,
2013; Korpela & Kinnunen, 2011)
Exercise can help prevent falls
Most fractures among older adults are caused by falls1
• Wrist fracture most often with forward/backward falls2
• Hip fractures most often with lateral falls (ages: >75)2
– About 20% of older people who suffer a hip fracture die within a year
__________
1. Bell et al., Med J Aust., 2000
2. Rubenstein, Age & Aging, 2006
3. Winter et al., Neurosci Res Commun, 1993; Maki et al., 1994; Horak and Moore, Phys Ther, 1989
Balance relies on Proprioception
• Balance relies on contributions from:
• Vision
• Vestibular sense
• Muscle strength & flexibility
• Reaction time
• Proprioception: The body's sense of how
it is positioned or moving in space
__________
1. Sturnieks, D.L., Neurophysiology Clin., 2008
RMS Joint Position Sense Error
(degrees)
Joint Position Error increases with age
Spearman r = 0.60
P < 0.0001
15
10
5
20
40
60
Age
80
JPS error increases with age (r = 0.60, p < 0.0001).
RMS Joint Position Sense Error
(degrees)
*
8
6
4
2
0
o
N
s
Ye
Balance-specific Exercise
Participants engaging in regular balance-specific physical
activity have lower JPS error (*p=0.02).
Outline for today’s talk
• Human Brain Anatomy – which structures
in the brain are we training?
• Our study on Cognitive Brain Training
• Perspiration: Exercise and Brain Health
• Meditation and Brain Health
• A Holisitic Approach to health and aging
Art and Science of Meditation
Ameena Batada (Health and Wellness)
Rick Chess (Literature and Language)
Keya Maitra (Philosophy)
Patrick Foo (Neuroscience)
GOAL: CULTIVATING GREATER
UNDERSTANDING OF THE MULTIPLE
FACETS OF ANCIENT TO MODERN
MEDITATION
MBSR (mindfulness based stress reduction) meditation
has been shown to relieve pain, reduce inflammation,
and improve emotional health (Creswell et al., 2014;
2016; Kabat-Zin, 1995; 2003; 2009)
Outline for today’s talk
• Human Brain Anatomy – which structures
in the brain are we training?
• Our study on Cognitive Brain Training
• Perspiration: Exercise and Brain Health
• Meditation and Brain Health
• A Holisitic Approach to health and aging
Take home message:
• Online brain training programs like
Lumosity can improve cognitive health in
seniors but only for specific tasks
• Cognitive Brain Training improves just the
Cortex
• Exercise and Meditation may improve
overall Brain functioning and health
So please don’t forget to enjoy the Autumn
Weather in Asheville! THANK YOU