Art Kramer has studied the cognitive aging process for his entire career and is recognized as a leading researcher in the field. Kramer has been called upon as an expert on the topic by media such as CBS News and has testified before Congress about his research into the aging mind.
Kramer has been researching the effects of cognitive training and fitness training on human performance and brain function, with a focus on the effects those interventions can have on cognitive aging. Kramers goals in this research area are aimed at understanding the cognitive aging process, but they also seek to promote healthy interventions like aerobic fitness and cognitive training. According to his Web site, the research involving the aging mind looks at interventions that can capitalize on the cognitive and brain plasticity of older adults in an effort to enhance cognitive vitality throughout the life span.
Results from Kramers studies have suggested that older adults who engage in aerobic exercise can slow and perhaps even reverse cognitive decline. One study, titled Active Aging: Influence of fitness on brain and cognition, found that fitness training may serve as an effective intervention in delaying the process of cognitive decline normally associated with advanced aging. In particular, results suggest that regular exercise may help maintain and even enhance skills involved in executive control, such as planning, inhibition, and certain types of memory among older adults.
In this video interview, Kramer discusses the cognitive effects and benefits of exercise and other interventions.
©2008 Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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