How can we live better for longer? This is a key question in our aging society where the proportion of older individuals is constantly increasing while at the same time no drugs that can combat age-related cognitive and physical decline are available. Apart from the individual fate, age-associated impairments of mobility and cognitive functioning pose a substantial burden to our health-care systems. Thus, strategies to prevent or treat these health-related problems are urgently needed.
Neuroplasticity, i.e. the brain’s ability to adapt to environmental changes, is the key to counteract the age-associated decline in brain function. Whilst neuroscientists once thought that neuroplasticity would manifest only during childhood, in recent years it has become increasingly clear that our brains can be altered even through adulthood. In this respect, it has been shown that both physical and cognitive activity can induce neuroplastic changes in the adult brain. However, in our evolutionary past, physical and mental activities were usually combined. Our ancestors didn’t try to “keep fit”. They had to hunt and forage: activities which put demands on both the body AND the brain. We, therefore, believe that combined physical and cognitive interventions (e.g. dancing) are best-suited to induce neuroplasticity. Some studies support the notion that combined motor-cognitive interventions show larger effects on cognitive and motor performance than interventions that rely on cognitive or physical exercises alone. Hence, the investigation of the effects of combined motor-cognitive interventions bears a great potential to tackle the consequences of age- and disease-related decline in mobility and cognition. However, the underlying mechanisms of motor-cognitive interventions leading to the improvements of motor and cognitive performance are not yet fully understood.
Thus, this Research Topic welcomes original and theoretical articles that study the effects of intervention that involve any type of combined motor-cognitive activities or that compare motor and cognitive interventions in order to deepen our understanding of the acute and chronic effects of motor-cognitive interventions on different levels of analyses. For example:
• Molecular and cellular level
• Functional and structural level
• Socioemotional level
• Behavioural level
We look forward to receiving your contributions to this Research Topic.
How can we live better for longer? This is a key question in our aging society where the proportion of older individuals is constantly increasing while at the same time no drugs that can combat age-related cognitive and physical decline are available. Apart from the individual fate, age-associated impairments of mobility and cognitive functioning pose a substantial burden to our health-care systems. Thus, strategies to prevent or treat these health-related problems are urgently needed.
Neuroplasticity, i.e. the brain’s ability to adapt to environmental changes, is the key to counteract the age-associated decline in brain function. Whilst neuroscientists once thought that neuroplasticity would manifest only during childhood, in recent years it has become increasingly clear that our brains can be altered even through adulthood. In this respect, it has been shown that both physical and cognitive activity can induce neuroplastic changes in the adult brain. However, in our evolutionary past, physical and mental activities were usually combined. Our ancestors didn’t try to “keep fit”. They had to hunt and forage: activities which put demands on both the body AND the brain. We, therefore, believe that combined physical and cognitive interventions (e.g. dancing) are best-suited to induce neuroplasticity. Some studies support the notion that combined motor-cognitive interventions show larger effects on cognitive and motor performance than interventions that rely on cognitive or physical exercises alone. Hence, the investigation of the effects of combined motor-cognitive interventions bears a great potential to tackle the consequences of age- and disease-related decline in mobility and cognition. However, the underlying mechanisms of motor-cognitive interventions leading to the improvements of motor and cognitive performance are not yet fully understood.
Thus, this Research Topic welcomes original and theoretical articles that study the effects of intervention that involve any type of combined motor-cognitive activities or that compare motor and cognitive interventions in order to deepen our understanding of the acute and chronic effects of motor-cognitive interventions on different levels of analyses. For example:
• Molecular and cellular level
• Functional and structural level
• Socioemotional level
• Behavioural level
We look forward to receiving your contributions to this Research Topic.