I think the research is important because as we get older our memories go and if there's
something that will keep me younger and obviously everybody else then I think it's a good thing.
So this is a program of research that is funded by the National Institute of Health Research
or the NIHR with the major aim of trying to understand the hallmarks of healthy ageing
in our brain and in our cognitive abilities.
So it's generally accepted that as people age it is good and healthy to remain mentally
active to fill in the crossword daily, to do the Sudoku or to play bridge but there's
relatively little scientific evidence to support this and in particular what kinds of mental
activity are particularly beneficial So this study is trying out lots of different computer
based training tasks to see whether we can identify any kinds of cognitive or mental
activities that are particularly good at boosting cognition in older adults and preventing the
normal cognitive decline that you see with ageing
I didn't have any reservations because the information that I was given was very extensive
and also the members staff were on hand if we had any queries we started with a two hour
session to see if we were suitable candidates and from there we had a period of training
on the computer and these training sessions took about twenty minutes and from there we
had a MEG Scan which probably was about two hours in duration and then the MRI scan was
the next day MRI is a non invasive imaging technique which allows us to look at images
of the brain so we can look at images of brain structure so for example the size or the shape
of different brain regions we can look at the images of brain function so how active
the different regions are both when you are at rest or while you are doing a cognitive
or memory test the exercise study is looking at the effects of physical activity on the
ageing brain so physical activities have been shown to have beneficial effects on cognition
in older adults and is also associated with reduced risk of dementia and what we're interested
in looking at what changes in the brain underlie these beneficial effects.
Taking part in the study involved twelve weeks of exercising here in the gym three times
a week for half an hour each session it involved being scanned with an MRI scanner it involved
cognitive tests and fitness tests to make sure that you weren't going to fall flat on
your face.
The participants come for a screening before we enrole them into the study we have to check
that they are safe they have to go in the scanner and be on exercise program and then
they either go into the exercise group first or onto a waiting list for twelve weeks so
if they're in the exercise group they come here to the CLEAR unit to the gym three times
a week.
A. it does you good B. you lose weight and its also helping future generations .
So physical activity reduces the risk of dementia but it may be that different types of activity
are more beneficial so we'll be able to look at whether going to the gym once a week or
three times a week is better for you or whether you need to be getting your heart rate raised
during activity or whether keeping generally active is going to help with dementia and
be good for your brain.
I very much enjoyed taking part in the research it was quite challenging doing the training
sessions but once you actually got into the flow of things it was very enjoyable I'm actually
looking forward to the outcome.
ultimately we hope that if we find interventions that are effective in boosting cognition that
they'll be particularly useful for people at the early stages of cognitive decline.
We capitalise on our knowledge that the brain and our cognitive abilities remain flexible
and plastic we like to think of it in terms of plasticity in cognition and the brain and
we use that ability of the brain to learn and adapt to then to develop some very simple
lifestyle based interventions in order to promote healthy ageing in the brain and in
our cognitive abilities.
I didn't have any reservations about taking part in the program at all it was great fun.
We're really keen that people within Oxford and the Oxfordshire region get involved in
the research that we are doing so we're looking for people who are aged over sixty with some
time to spare so it might be that they take part in a computer based training study or
they might take part in a study that involves doing organised exercise over a few weeks
we've got so many studies running we're really keen to hear from lots of people from within
this region who might like to get involved in this research.
I am keeping up my fitness in fact I even went out and bought an exercise bike which
I sit in front of the television and pedal away during the boring bits so instead of
making a cup of tea sit on your bike and pedal!