Physical fitness improves spatial memory, increases size of brain structure

February 25, 2009

When it comes to the hippocampus, a brain structure vital to certain types of memory, size matters. Numerous studies have shown that bigger is usually better. Now researchers have found that elderly adults who are more physically fit tend to have bigger hippocampi and better spatial memory than those who are less fit.

The study, in the journal Hippocampus, shows that hippocampus size in physically fit adults accounts for about 40 percent of their advantage in spatial memory.

The hippocampus, a curved structure deep inside the medial temporal lobe of the brain, is essential to memory formation. Remove it - as was done in the well-known case of surgical patient Henry Gustav Molaison - and a person's ability to store most new experiences in memory is destroyed.

The hippocampus also is a key player in spatial navigation and other types of relational memory.

Certain activities are believed to modify hippocampus size in humans. For example, a study of London taxi drivers found that the posterior portion of the hippocampus was larger in experienced taxi drivers than in other subjects. And a study of German medical students found that the same region of the hippocampus increased in size as they studied for their final exams.

Studies also have found that the hippocampus shrinks with age, a process that coincides with small but significant cognitive declines. The rate at which this occurs, however, differs among individuals.

Earlier studies found that exercise increases hippocampus size and spatial memory in rodents, but the new study is the first to demonstrate that exercise can affect hippocampus size and memory in humans.

The researchers, from the University of Illinois and the University of Pittsburgh, measured the cardiorespiratory fitness of 165 adults (109 of them female) between 59 and 81 years of age. Using magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers conducted a volumetric analysis of the subjects' left and right hippocampi. They also tested the participants' spatial reasoning.

They found a significant association between an individual's fitness and his or her performance on certain spatial memory tests. There was also a strong correlation between fitness and hippocampus size.

"The higher fit people have a bigger hippocampus, and the people that have more tissue in the hippocampus have a better spatial memory," said U. of I. psychology professor Art Kramer, who led the study with Pittsburgh psychology professor Kirk Erickson.

"Even ignoring the hippocampus data, we see there is this significant and substantial relationship between how fit you are and how good your memory is, or at least a certain kind of memory, a certain kind of memory that we need all the time," Kramer said.

"This is really a clinically significant finding because it supports the notion that your lifestyle choices and behaviors may influence brain shrinkage in old age," Erickson said. "Basically, if you stay fit, you retain key regions of your brain involved in learning and memory."

An impairment of spatial memory "is one of a number of reasons why older people end up losing their independence," Kramer said. "Here is yet more evidence that becoming fit has implications for how well you're going to live your life."

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Spatial Recall: Memory in Architecture and Landscape
by Marc Treib (Editor)

Architecture and designed landscapes serve as grand mnemonic devices that record and transmit vital aspects of culture and history. Spatial Recall casts a broad net over the concept of memory and gives a variety of perspectives from twelve internationally noted scholars, practicing designers, and artists such as Juhani Pallasmaa, Adriaan Geuze, Susan Schwartzenberg, Georges Descombes and Esther da Costa Meyer. Essays range from broad topics of message and audience to specific ones of landscape production. Beautifully illustrated, Spatial Recall is a comprehensive view of memory in the built environment, how we have read it in the past, and how we can create it in the future.

Prefrontal cortex hemispheric specialization for categorical and coordinate visual spatial memory [An article from: Neuropsychologia]
by S.D. Slotnick (Author), L.R. Moo (Author)

This digital document is a journal article from Neuropsychologia, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
During visual spatial perception of multiple items, the left hemisphere has been shown to preferentially process categorical spatial relationships while the right hemisphere has been shown to preferentially process coordinate spatial relationships. We hypothesized that this hemispheric processing distinction would be reflected in the prefrontal cortex during categorical and coordinate visual spatial memory, and tested this hypothesis using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During encoding, abstract shapes...

Spatial Working Memory (Current Issues in Memory)
by André Vandierendonck (Editor), Arnaud Szmalec (Editor)

Spatial working memory is the ability to remember the location in which something is perceived, and in addition, the ability to recall a series of visited locations. In this book, top researchers in the domain of spatial working memory review and discuss findings about the processes and memory structures which underlie the ability to store and use spatial information. The first part of the book provides an examination of the working memory system, looking at the behavioural and neural processes involved in working with (visuo-) spatial information and how these can constrain the hypotheses that are generated. It also addresses methodological questions, for example looking at how the use of the appropriate method can ensure that the observed data are as informative as possible about the...

Visuo-spatial Working Memory (Essays in Cognitive Psychology)
by Robert H. Logie (Author)

Representation of the visual and spatial properties of our environment is a pivotal requirement of everyday cognition. We can mentally represent the visual form of objects. We can extract information from several of the senses as to the location of objects in relation to ourselves and to other objects nearby. For some of those objects we can reach out and manipulate them. We can also imagine ourselves manipulating objects in advance of doing so, or even when it would be impossible to do so physically. The problem posed to science is how these cognitive operations are accomplished, and proffered accounts lie in two essentially parallel research endeavours, working memory and imagery. Working memory is thought to pervade everyday cognition, to provide on-line processing and temporary...

Human Spatial Memory: Remembering Where
by Gary L. Allen (Editor)

The chapters in Human Spatial Memory: Remembering Where present a fascinating picture of an everyday aspect of mental life that is as intriguing to people outside of academia as it is to scientists studying human cognition and behavior. The questions are as old as the study of mind itself: How do we remember where objects are located? How do we remember where we are in relation to other places? What is the origin and developmental course of spatial memory? What neural structures are involved in remembering where? How do we come to understand scaled-down versions of places as symbolic representations of actual places? Although the questions are old, some of the answers-in-progress are new, thanks to some innovative theorizing, solid experimental work, and revealing applications of new...

Visuo-spatial Working Memory and Individual Differences (Essays in Cognitive Psychology)
by Cesare Cornoldi (Author), Tomaso Vecchi (Author)

In this timely and comprehensive text, Cesare Cornoldi and Tomaso Vecchi describe their recently developed experimental approach to the investigation of visuo-spatial cognition, based upon the analysis of individual differences.
A review of the most influential theoretical advances in the study of visuo-spatial cognition is presented, including both critical analysis and comparisons between the distinct approaches. In addition, the authors describe recent research into memory for spatial configurations, mental manipulation and the active integration of visuo-spatial information. This includes studies on the effects of congenital blindness on mental imagery abilities, developmental and age-related modifications, gender effects, and the role of genetic syndromes in determining...

Spatial Cognition III: Routes and Navigation, Human Memory and Learning, Spatial Representation and Spatial Learning (Lecture Notes in Computer Science / Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence)
by Christian Freksa (Editor), Wilfried Brauer (Editor)

This third volume documents the results achieved within a priority program on spatial cognition funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG). The 23 revised full papers presented went through two rounds of reviewing and improvement and reflect the increased interdisciplinary cooperation in the area. The papers are organized in topical sections on routes and navigation, human memory and learning, spatial representation, and spatial reasoning.

Spatial Memory: Webster's Timeline History, 1966 - 2007
by Icon Group International (Author)

Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Spatial Memory," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Spatial Memory in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Spatial Memory when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts,...

Spatial Cognition: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Representing and Processing Spatial Knowledge (Lecture Notes in Computer Science / Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence)
by Christian Freksa (Editor), Christopher Habel (Editor), Karl F. Wender (Editor)

This book constitutes the documentation of the results achieved within a proirity program on spatial cognition established by the German Science Foundation (DFG) in 1996 involving 13 research groups in Germany and leading scientists from abroad. The 22 revised full papers included were first presented during a colloquium in fall 1997 and then went through a second round of thorough reviewing. The book is organized into three parts on spatial knowledge acquisition and spatial memory, formal and linguistic models, and navigation in real and virtual worlds. All in all the book is a unique report on the state-of-the art in the interdisciplinary research field of spatial cognition and its potential applications.

How to Develop a Brilliant Memory Week by Week: 52 Proven Ways to Enhance Your Memory Skills
by Dominic O'Brien (Author)

From the little things (recalling statistics and facts) to the big (keeping track of anniversaries and important appointments), a good memory is essential to a happy life and a successful career. Improve yours, with these 52 proven techniques that helped win Dominic O'Brien accolades such as "Brain of the Year" and "Grandmaster of Memory." O'Brien has designed this guide as a year-long course in memory improvement, complete with a paced program of study that starts with the basics and slowly builds. Use it as a handy reference to target specific memory shortcomings: exercises such as "Pin Number" and "52 Shopping Items" provide tailored approaches to real-life situations.
Combining an expert understanding of the brain with tested methods, O’Brien has produced a potent,...