Simply memorizing a poem or learning by rote can cause metabolic changes in the brains of older adults.

In a study, participants aged 55 to 70 were involved in six weeks of intensive rote learning and memorizing. This was followed by six weeks of rest.

Learning and memory tests were administered before and after the six week learning session. No changes were noted at the end of the six weeks of memorization.

However, tests administered after the six weeks of rest showed that all of the volunteers experienced improvements in their verbal and episodic memory. They were better able to remember and repeat a short story and a list of words and to recall events that occurred earlier in the day or week.

Researchers stress that memorizing is a daily exercise anyone can do and that it has long term benefits in terms of cognitive function and as a defense against dementia.

So, let’s all go memorize something!

Rote Learning Improves Memory in Seniors

High blood pressure affects 65 million Americans, most of them older adults. Now a research team from University of Delaware and the Christiana Care Health System say they may have identified one of the problems that causes hypertension to develop in older adults.

The study found that veins may suffer loss of elasticity as we age. Veins are made of collagen and elastin, which give them flexibility.

“When you are young, your veins are nice and elastic–like rubber bands,” William Farquhar, a cardiovascular physiologist in UD’s College of Health Sciences, said. “But as you grow older, we’ve found that your veins become more like lead pipes.”

The next step says Farqhar is to study the veins of young persons who have high blood pressure - to see if their veins are stiffer than persons without high blood pressure.

Farqhar offered that regular exercise may be one way to slow or stop age-related increases in vein stiffness.

Read more about this study here.

Would you rather play Checkers or watch TV? According to researchers, just switching from a passive activity like television viewing to playing a board game can keep your brain exercised through mental challenges and activities. Mental activity is a way to keep your brain young and has been shown to reduce rates of dementia in people over 75.

In an article at the AARP website, Lawrence Katz, Ph.D., a professor of neurobiology at Duke University Medical Center, has some suggestions on ways to keep your brain flexible and agile. His suggestions include:

* Think in new ways
* Change your routine
* Turn off the tube
* Surprise your senses

For more information on employing Dr. Katz’s suggestions in your daily life, read the article.

De-Age Your Brain.

You may also like to visit our sister sites on this subject : Brain Boomers and Arts and Mind.

Physicians who treat older adults should consider prescribing exercise along with necessary medications and advice.

This is the goal of Ann Yelmokas McDermott, PhD, a researcher in the Lipid Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University, and Heather Mernitz, PhD, now of the Nutrition and Cancer Biology Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA. Together they had developed FITT-PRO, a guide for prescribing exercise for older patients.

Their FITT-PRO prescription suggestion should include the following:

*Frequency - how often to do the exercise
*Intensity - how hard to exercise
*Type - the kind of exercise the patient should perform
*Time - how long to exercise
*Progression - how to progress to more strenuous exercise as the patient becomes more physically fit.

“Starting an exercise program later in life can significantly modify risk factors, even if a person has been sedentary in prior years,” McDermott said.

Prescribe exercise for older adults

Strength Training for Older Adults - from the CDC and Tufts University