At retirement age, staying razor-sharp takes on a whole new meaning. But it turns out, the secret to living longer doesn’t hinge on a special diet, ice plunging, or other anti-aging hacks—it’s reliant on brain endurance training (BET). Brain games like crossword puzzles, sudoku, chess, and jigsaw puzzles can improve your health and lifespan when combined with physical activity, like brisk walking or bodyweight exercises, according to a new study published in the journal Psychology of Sport & Exercise.
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Although limited in scope, the study found that BET can promote both cognitive (think: information processing, conductive reasoning, speaking, and memory) and physical activity performance in adults 65 and over. Furthermore, the study suggests that BET can strengthen the brain’s performance when “fresh” and “fatigued.” While results may be noticeably different, researchers argue that adults who engage in BET will still be able to perform at a more acute level.
Twenty-four healthy, sedentary senior women (ages 65 to 78) were randomly split into three groups: one group engaged in BET, a second group did only physical fitness training, and the third group didn’t participate in either.
The study took place over the course of eight weeks. During this time, the BET and exercise training-only groups adhered to the same workout schedule, which consisted of three 45-minute sessions per week. The sessions were split into two parts: 20 minutes of resistance exercise, such as squats and free weights, plus 25 minutes of endurance exercise, like walking. However, the BET group was also tasked with a 20-minute cognitive exercise at the start of each session.
Progress was assessed at weeks zero (pre-study), four (mid-study), eight (completion of study), and 12 (one-month follow-up). Researchers performed two cognitive tests, including a psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) to measure response time and a neuropsychological test called Stroop. It measures selective attention, processing speed, memory, and other cognitive functions, per Frontiers in Psychology.
Cognitive testing was followed by a three-part physical fitness test. Upon completing a six-minute walk, participants were tasked with a 30-second chair-stand test (a continuous streamline of rising and sitting down). To cap things off, they did 30 seconds of bicep curls.
The assessments were conducted when participants were “fresh” upon arrival and again once “fatigued” following a 30-minute cognitive task. This protocol enabled researchers to deduce whether BET helped participants perform better when mentally drained.
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So, what was the result? In their findings, researchers saw a dramatic outperformance of 3.3 percent by the BET group compared to the exercise-only group in cognitive performance. While both groups beat out the controlled group (the third group who underwent no type of training), BET-ers achieved more impressive results, especially in the “fatigued” portion of the assessment.
The BET group averaged an improvement of 3.7 percent to 7.8 percent in cognitive performance, while the exercise-only group averaged 3.6 percent to 4.5 percent. As for physical performance, BET averaged a 16.5 percent to 29.9 percent improvement; the exercise-only group averaged 13.8 percent to 22.4 percent.
The BET group also remarked that working out got easier as the experiment progressed, suggesting that nurturing both your mental and physical health has multiple benefits.
“We have shown that BET could be an effective intervention to improve cognitive and physical performance in older adults, even when fatigued,” study co-author Christopher Ring said in a press release outlining findings. “This could have significant implications for improving healthspan in this population, including reducing the risk of falls and accidents.”
Researchers hope that the BET group’s results will motivate older adults to take up a fitness class and, more importantly, stick with it. However, more research is needed (notably, with a more diverse sample of participants) to fully understand the correlation between BET and longevity.
“These promising initial findings show we should do more to encourage older people to engage in BET to improve brain and body activities,” said Ring.
