Training-Induced+Brain+Structure+Changes+in+the+Elderly

Boyke, Janina, Driemeyer, Joenna, Gaser, Christian, Buchel, Christian, May, Arne. "Training-Induced Brain Structure Changes in the Elderly." Journal of Neuroscience28.28 (2008): 7031-7035. Web. 14 Jun. 2016.

Using elderly people with an average age of 60 years old and a group of much younger people, of 20 years old, who knew nothing about juggling prior to the study, the goal of the study was to measure grey matter volumes in both groups when they were taught how to juggle proficiently. Although some of the participants, specifically in the older group, withdrew or could not move forward with the study, there was still adequate data gathered. After a designated three months of learning, the older participants were not up to the same level as the younger adults, but they still had learned how to juggle at a basic level. With this, the grey matter areas of those elderly subjects, as well as the younger adults, increased in size during the gaining of new, “abstract” information—juggling. These results cannot be solely tied to the increase of the hippocampal size as the researchers propose that more mechanisms are working on the same area. Although the participants tested did not have neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, this information can be used in future testing as it shows evidence that learning and changing the plasticity of the brain never truly ends with age. Instead, the plasticity slows but is still moldable. It would be interesting to consider the participants' results who opted out half way through the three months or those who could not move forward due to mental or physical incapacities that arose. Although this pattern did reverse weeks after the juggling ceased, it is still important to note that the death of a brain can be fought with repetition and learning new, abstract skills.