Finding the Fountain of Youth

This piece discusses how moderate exercise can actually decline memory loss and increase hippocampus size, which, in terms of the aging process, increases a life expectancy rate of 1-2 years. This conclusion was seen when 120 elder adults between the ages of 55-80 were tested. One group was sent to an aerobics class and another was sent to a stretching class. The aerobics class saw the greater improvement with memory and hippocampus size because their kinetic ability increased. This article was written by Dr. Michael Otto from Psychology Today magazine. Dr. Otto has a Ph.D. in Exercise and Mood. The context of this piece is spacial because as people age, their memory decreases which is linked to hippocampus size decreasing. With this study of a moderate vigor to exercising, people can actually increase their memory and stop the hippocampus from decreasing as people age. This piece was written to convince people that exercising has more health benefits than just one, and it is important for everyone to be active in order to maintain a healthy physical and mental life. The specific audience for whom this piece was intended for are the senior citizens and elderly ranging between ages 55-80. However, the general audience is the public whom with this information can start at an early age to increase their life expectancy, memory, mood, etc. to live a happy and healthy life. The rhetorical devices used in this piece is an illusion dating back to the "Fountain of Youth" myth by Ponce de Leon which ties into this piece because it is said that the "Fountain of Youth" has been found through exercising. Also, the use of exemplification as a structure helps the audience to relate this finding to an actual test that people in their age group have performed to show how amazing these results truly are. Finally, the formal diction used is geared towards anatomy and bodily organs such as the hippocampus, which establishes the authors credibility as a doctor, for he was able to connect the hippocampus to memory to exercising. This demonstrated his understanding of the entire situation. The author accomplished his purpose because he not only talked about exercising as increasing memory, but he talked about the exponential amount of health benefits that exercising has to offer as a whole. Also, the author was able to provide a study that was shown to prove how moderately vigorous exercise does indeed increase memory and hippocampus size.