The sport of orienteering, a unique blend of physical exercise and challenging navigation tasks, has the potential to offer more than just physical benefits, as recent research by kinesiologists at McMaster University suggests. This study indicates that the more intense the orienteering activity, the greater the cognitive benefits, potentially serving as a powerful tool in the fight against cognitive decline, dementia, and serious diseases such as Alzheimer’s. This research, a continuation of a 2023 study, delves into the mental effects of orienteering at various levels of intensity, offering a glimmer of hope for the future of cognitive health.
The researchers chose orienteering as their focus because it requires participants to rapidly navigate a series of checkpoints across unknown terrain using only a map and compass. Orienteering demands focused attention and quick decision-making based on spatial information, which engages the hippocampus—a part of the brain particularly vulnerable to age-related decline. Degeneration in the hippocampus can negatively impact learning, memory, and spatial cognition. “Remarkably, even a single session of orienteering improved spatial memory in our study participants,” says lead author Emma Waddington, a graduate student in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster, who conducted the study with colleagues from Western University. “This suggests that even occasional participation in orienteering could enhance spatial abilities and potentially delay their decline with age.”
For the study, recently published in the journal PLOS One, groups of active, healthy young adults with no prior orienteering experience navigated a course on the McMaster campus. Some participants walked the course, while others ran. A control group exercised vigorously without any navigation tasks. Researchers used blood samples to measure participants’ lactate levels, an indicator of exercise intensity, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which promotes brain plasticity. They also tested memory performance before and after the sessions. The findings showed that running increased lactate, BDNF, and memory performance more than walking, with notable benefits for spatial memory in those running while orienteering.
Losing the ability to navigate and find one’s way is among the earliest and most common symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, affecting half of all individuals, even in the mildest stages. “With no known cure for dementia, preventative measures that can help stave off age-related cognitive decline are essential,” says Jennifer Heisz, Canada Research Chair in Brain Health and Aging at McMaster University, who supervised the research. Modern-day reliance on GPS-guided vehicles may mean that many people rarely use their natural wayfinding skills, potentially leading to deficits in spatial memory and a diminished sense of direction. Orienteering could help revive these skills, Heisz notes. Exploring the long-term effects of orienteering on human cognition and its impact across different age groups remains a vital area for future research.
More information: Emma E. Waddington et al, Orienteering combines vigorous-intensity exercise with navigation to improve human cognition and increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor, PLoS ONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303785
Journal information: PLoS ONE Provided by McMaster University
