Benefits of Gardening Activities for Cognitive Function According to Measurement of Brain Nerve Growth Factor Levels

Sin-Ae Park, A-Young Lee, Hee-Geun Park and Wang-Lok Lee
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Sin-Ae Park: Department of Environmental Health Science, Sanghuh College of Life Science, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea
A-Young Lee: Department of Environmental Health Science, Sanghuh College of Life Science, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea
Hee-Geun Park: Sport Science Center, Daejeon 35021, Korea
Wang-Lok Lee: Department of Sport Science, Chugnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-9

Abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the effects of gardening activities in senior individuals on brain nerve growth factors related to cognitive function. Forty-one senior individuals (age 76.6 ± 6.0 years) were recruited from the local community in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, South Korea. A 20-min low-to-moderate intensity gardening activity intervention, making a vegetable garden, was performed by the subjects in a garden plot located on the Konkuk University (Seoul, South Korea) campus. The gardening involved six activities including cleaning a garden plot, digging, fertilizing, raking, planting/transplanting, and watering. To determine the effects of the gardening activities on brain nerve growth factors related to memory, blood samples were drawn twice from each subject before and after the gardening activity by professional nurses. The levels of brain nerve growth factors, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), were analyzed. Levels of BDNF and PDGF were significantly increased after the gardening activity. This study revealed a potential benefit of gardening activities for cognitive function in senior individuals.

Keywords: complementary and medicine; exercise intervention; horticultural therapy; socio horticulture; older adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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