| 580 | Friday, April 4, 2003 |
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| 8:45 AM-10:00 AM | Convention Center:107AB |
| AAHPERD/Retirees/ARNC |
| Retirees--The Flexible Brain: Exercise-Dependent Changes of Brain and Behavior in Parkinson’s, Stroke and Alzheimer’s Disease |
| This application-oriented presentation will provide practical guidelines and theoretical background for enhancing tissue in older individuals with neuro-pathology and, in the process, demonstrate to the participants how self-produced activity (in particular, physical activity) enhances brain tissue throughout life. Recent breakthroughs in the clinical neurosciences reveal the brain maintains a wondrous flexibility well into old age, refuting the old dogma that changes in neural tissue are limited exclusively to the early stages of an organism’s development. The speakers will cite examples from their ongoing research on the effects of exercise on brain function in older adults living with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke and a variety of –so-called- chronic conditions. The material is relevant to adapted physical educators working with special populations, professionals working with adults in rehabilitation clinics, nursing homes and day care centers, and administrators designing health and fitness programs for adults recovering from stroke, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, and the elderly themselves. |
Keyword(s): . NA
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| Presider: Perry F. Miller, Southwest Missouri State University (retired), MO |
| Speakers: Mark Hirsch, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; and Patricia Heyn, University of Central Florida, Oviedo, FL |