Is the brain the next frontier in fitness and rehab? The team at Act!vate Brain & Body, a first-of-its-kind healthy aging fitness facility, say YES and have built their business model around it.
Neuroscientists say the benefits of training the brain and body simultaneously (aka dual tasking) to enhance cognitive function, physical mobility, and overall human performance have been clear for some time. Act!vate, which opens its first location in Cincinnati in June and plans to open more, features SMARTfit’s gamified dual-task assessment and training technology. The following are highlights from a story on WKRC in Cincinnati titled “The Science Behind Brain Aging in Reverse”.
CINCINNATI (WKRC) – If you’ve noticed you’re having trouble remembering what you never used to forget, it might be time to start exercising not just your body, but your brain.
Scientists say the pandemic has been especially hard on our brains. From the isolation to the virus itself, brain fitness experts say if we want to age in reverse when it comes to memory and thinking, we might need to change the way we work out.
Adam Ortman is part of a research team conducting a trial with Miami University of Ohio to find out how exercise impacts memory and thinking skills. “So, the research shows that when your heart rate is elevated, and you challenge the brain, you can improve your focus, your attention time, reaction time and processing speed,” said Ortman, the Chief Exercise Science Officer at Activate Brain and Body.
John Spence, Activate’s CEO, adds “One of the things that we know is that if you start living your lifestyle a certain way that you can actually have some control about how your brain ages. Research shows you improve it by “managing a cognitive task while you’re doing something physical, which is also known as dual-tasking”
Ortman’s team is also specifically exploring its effects on people who report that, after two years of the pandemic, “’I’m more isolated,’ and two, ‘I’m feeling this COVID brain fog,’” said Spence.
Watch the WKRC news coverage and read the full article HERE.
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