Keep Active to Help Your Brain

A Wooded Walking Path

Keep Active to Help Your Brain

Did you know that exercise may be an asset to your brain's health?  It can even preserve gray matter.  In addition, physical activity may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, as well as other forms of cognitive decline.  In one study participants who were the most active displayed the least decline, which was significant because it is the equivalent to 10 years of mental aging! Another study found that the most active older adults had the largest volume of gray matter, which is the area of the brain typically affected by Alzheimer's.

So just how intense does this activity need to be?  A group of 876 older adults were studied. 90% said they did not exercise, while 10% reported moderate to high-intensity exercise.  After about 7 years each participant was given tests for memory and thinking skills, as well as a brain MRI.  And, 5 years after that they took the memory and thinking tests again.  The results showed that of those people in the low-activity group showed a greater decline on tests of how fast they could perform simple tasks and how many words they could remember from a list.  However, those in the higher-activity group performed much better and their mental aging put them 10 years ahead of their non-active counterparts.

The Cardiovascular Health Study analyzed data from 900 participants, both men and women, who were at least 65 years old when the study began.  This group completed medical and cognitive tests, answered questionnaires about their physical activity, and had MRI scans of their brains. The questionnaires were used to estimate how many calories were being expended in exercise. It turns out that the most active one-quarter of participants had significantly more gray matter in parts of the brain that correlates with memory and higher-level thinking.

The Bottom Line:  If you are not already active now is a good time to start.  It can be as simple as walk.

Reference:  Health & Nutrition Letter, Tufts University, July 2016, Vol. 34, NO.5, Keep Active to Protect Your Brain (p. 1&3).