There was a time when I could hide my gray hairs with some strategic combing. Now, I have succumbed and describe my new hair color as “executive blond.” Of course, that also means that the important stuff under my scalp is getting older too. Brains start to “go gray” about the same time the hair does, which is why exercise for older adults has become the new anti-aging fix for our senior cerebellums. Several new studies provide more evidence that a brain in motion tends to remain... young.
The older population (which does not include me yet!), persons 65 years or older, totaled 39.6 million in 2009 (the latest year for which data is available). They represented 12.9% of the U.S. population, about one in every eight Americans. By 2030, there will be about 72.1 million older persons, more than twice their number in 2000. People 65+ represented 12.4% of the population in the year 2000 but are expected to grow to be 19% of the population by 2030.
Over the last several years, dozens of studies have concluded that exercise helps not only your reflection in the mirror but also your cognitive ability. Just in the last four months, three research projects, one small, one medium and one large, reported their findings of the effects of exercise on the older brain.
Last week, the Cubs made a rare visit to Fenway Park to face the Red Sox in an Major League Baseball interleague series. Things got a little nasty when Sox pitcher Alfredo Aceves put a fastball into the face of the Cubs’ Marlon Byrd, causing multiple fractures. As is “tradition” in baseball, the Red Sox batters knew the score would be settled in the following game. After just missing Jed Lowrie with an inside pitch in the eighth inning, Cub pitcher Kerry Wood made sure he connected with his target and plunked Lowrie in the behind on the very next pitch.
"After he missed the first one, I figured there's a good chance [I'd get hit]," Lowrie told MLB.com. "I'm [ticked] off. I just got hit with a 97-mph fastball," he said. "I mean, I understand the situation, but I'm [ticked] off."
This type of diamond justice will only get worse as we get into the hot summer months of the season, according to researchers at Duke University. Richard Larrick, a management professor at the Fuqua School of Business studied 57,293 Major League Baseball games from 1952 through 2009, including 4.5 million at bats. He looked at the relationship between batters hit by a pitch and the air temperature druing the game. If a pitcher’s teammate gets plugged, whether it be intentional or not, he is much more likely to retaliate if the temperature is 90F or above. However, if no one has been hit yet, the heat is not any more likely to cause the first knockdown.
There was a time when I could hide my gray hairs with some strategic combing. Now, I have succumbed and describe my new hair color as “executive blond.” Of course, that also means that the important stuff under my scalp is getting older too. Brains start to “go gray” about the same time the hair does, which is why exercise for older adults has become the new anti-aging fix for our senior cerebellums. Several new studies provide more evidence that a brain in motion tends to remain... young.
