"Clinical and experimental studies show that physical exercise can induce important structural and functional changes in brain tissue," Syafritra remarked in Padang, West Sumatera.
She highlighted several studies on humans in which it was found that physical exercise can increase the gray matter volume in the frontal area and hippocampus.
Physical exercise also improves cognitive abilities that are related to learning processes and memory, attention processes, and executive processes.
Syafritra noted that physical exercise also prevents cognitive decline and reduces the risk of dementia, especially in the elderly, and improves academic achievement, especially for children.
She also said that apart from functional improvements, molecular studies also show that physical exercise can increase cognitive endurance by maintaining dendritic protrusions and plasticity.
Meanwhile, based on research by Speakman and Mitchell, limiting food energy or dieting by maintaining important nutrients for health without causing malnutrition can also improve a person's cognitive abilities.
"Research shows that reducing calorie intake by 20-40 percent has been proven to counteract age-related phenotypes (changes in traits), increasing human lifespan and health," she explained.
She noted that calorie restriction for cognitive improvement has benefits that have been recognized for years. However, the mechanism of action is not fully known.
Syafritra pointed out that based on reports from the World Health Organization (WHO), life expectancy globally will increase from 72.8 years in 2019 to 77.2 years in 2050.
Specifically in Hong Kong, life expectancy will reach 85.29 years, while in Japan, life expectancy reaches 85.03 years.
However, the number of dementia cases related to the process of increasing age, or what is known as the neurodegeneration process, is also increasing.
The Alzheimer's Association forecasts that sufferers of Alzheimer's disease in America will increase from 5.2 million in 2014 to 13.8 million in 2050.
"As the number of people aged over 65 years in the world increases, we need to understand some of the changes that occur in cognitive function related to increasing age," Syafritra stated.
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Translator: Muhammad Zulfikar, Katriana
Editor: Anton Santoso
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