Whether it involves “mental fitness” or “brain training” or developing a healthy mind, the general topic of cognitive health is a trendy one these days. It’s an area where science and popular culture overlap, and Beckman Institute researchers have been thrust into the middle of this timely discussion.

Advances in technology, such as improved imaging techniques, are providing exciting new insights into brain function and physiology. The topics of how we can improve cognitive functions such as memory and learning, maintain cognitive processes as we age, or even reverse cognitive loss due to disease have become as widely discussed in the popular culture and media recently as they have been in the scientific community for the last decade or so.

Sometimes the news stories, headlines, and product ads don’t always carry the caveats and cautionary notes sounded by researchers. Beckman faculty members have been leading researchers in the areas of cognitive health and neuroscience for many years, and are often called upon by the national media for their expertise.

Some of the media spotlights have shone on so-called brain training programs, while others have taken an overall look at what the current scientific literature is telling us about our brains, cognition, and health. We asked several Beckman faculty members whose research is highly engaged in these areas for input on what the research tells us about what is known, what is suggested, and what is not yet proven regarding cognition and neuroscience. We looked at four (sometimes overlapping) topics: the growth of new brain cells (neurogenesis), the cognitive benefits of exercise, brain training, and transfer of skills (whether improvement from training on one task transfers to improvement on other tasks), and issues surrounding the loss of cognitive function due to aging and diseases like Alzheimer’s.

NEUROGENESIS

For many years, science told us that the growth of new brain cells was a finite process – once we reached our 30s, neurogenesis stopped. In the past decade or so, the evidence (much of it coming from Beckman researchers) has tilted toward a theory that new neurons can be formed in certain regions of the brain.

Along with the change in thinking about neurogenesis, Beckman neuroscientists have produced research on brain plasticity suggesting that brain morphology and, consequently, cognition can actually be shaped by activities like exercise or environmental factors such as culture. Research involving exercise or fitness has become paramount to both discussions.

“There are very few studies that examine fitness training effects on human brain structure and function. Most of them have been done by us,” said Beckman’s Art Kramer, a leading researcher with colleague Ed McAuley in the area. “They do suggest positive effects, both in terms of how well the brain functions and in brain structure – how much of it you have using measures of change in brain volume.”

Kramer, a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Biomedical Imaging Center at Beckman, said there is also a large and increasing literature on research done with animals that shows both learning and memory improvements and neurochemical changes in the brain with improved fitness.

“Both the animal and human research is pretty solid with respect to fitness effects on brain structure, brain function, neurochemistry, learning and memory, and cognition,” Kramer said.

Exercise has become an important tool for researchers studying its effects on neurogenesis and cognition. In March, Newsweek magazine reported on a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that it said took exercise-induced neurogenesis found in animals and “extended that principle to humans for the first time.”