Muscle mass

Endocrine functions of skeletal muscle

Executive mental function, memory and psychomotor speed were each measured at baseline and after three years. Executive mental function was measured with standard tests, including the ability to say the sequence 1-A, 2-B, 3-C..., to name a number of animals in one minute, and with the Stroop test. The study found that those individuals with lower skeletal muscle mass at the start of the study declined in their executive mental function considerably more sharply than those with higher muscle mass. Memory, as well as psychomotor speed, on the other hand, did not correlate with skeletal muscle mass. Thus, larger muscle mass, with a concomitantly larger secretome, appeared to have the endocrine function of protecting the executive mental function of individuals over the age of 65.