Health and fitness professionals have the opportunity to join allied health professionals in addressing the major epidemic of cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Although exercise has been proven to be beneficial to brain health and cognitive functioning, the precise exercise prescriptions are not clear to the general public or the industries of health and fitness. This has led to further confusion and leaves clients, patients, and caregivers wondering if they are doing all that is possible to stave off cognitive decline. This lecture will review the research on how certain modalities of exercise can differentially affect the brain, and provide an initial framework for the assessment and programming of cognitive health within exercise programs.

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe how cardiovascular, resistance, motor, multicomponent and dual-task training exercise types can benefit the brain
2. Identify the neurobiological mechanisms in which the brain benefits from exercise
3. Apply exercise programming strategies for both specific and general brain health outcomes

Speaker: Ryan Glatt, FAFS, BSc, Psychometrist & Brain Health Coach at the Pacific Brain Health Center