Resistance Training Improves Mental Function

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a condition where a person has minor problems with things like memory, thinking, attention, language or visual depth perception. The problems are usually not severe enough to affect activities of daily living. But some people with MCI go on to develop dementia – Alzheimer’s in particular. A new study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society by Mavros et al from the University of Sydney has looked into the effects of strength training on cognitive function. The researchers selected 100 people with MCI aged 55 or over. Part of the subjects were put through progressive resistance training (PRT) 2x/week for 6 months. Unsurprisingly, the resistance training led to increases in strength but interestingly the strength increases were linked to improvements in mental ability. The researchers conclude that the link between strength gains and cognitive function merits further study.

Testosterone May Strengthen ACL

New research by Romani et al. from The John Hopkins University in Baltimore has been published in The Knee and has shown that testosterone levels can have an impact on the strength of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Romani’s previous research has shown that estrogen could reduce ACL strength.

The most recent study was performed on male rats. The ACLs of normal rats were compared to those of castrated rats. The testosterone levels in the castrated rats was close to zero. The researchers concluded that “rats with normal circulating testosterone had higher ACL load-to-failure and ultimate stress, indicating that testosterone may influence ACL strength and the injury rate of the ligament“. The results suggest that testosterone may help to strengthen the ACL. If coupled with the findings that estrogen could weaken the ACL, we can start to understand some of the reasons behind the differences in prevalence of ACL injuries between the sexes. Obviously, this only holds if these findings are the same in humans as well. It would also be interesting to know if these findings apply to other ligaments.