Exercise slows brain aging
Original Publication: Neurology
Published: 23 March 2016
Exercise in older people is associated with a slower rate of decline in thinking skills that occurs with aging. People who reported light to no exercise experienced a decline equal to 10 more years of aging as compared to people who reported moderate to intense exercise.
When looking at people who had no signs of memory and thinking problems at the start of the study, researchers found that those reporting low activity levels showed a greater decline over five years compared to those with high activity levels on tests of how fast they could perform simple tasks and how many words they could remember from a list. The difference was equal to that of 10 years of aging.
Study Recommendation
Exercise! Do what it takes to slow aging by doing moderate to intense amounts of exercise. Forget doing small amounts if you want to age well.
What can I do?
Exercise for a healthy brain and healthy body
Increase your exercise to increase your brain power
Reference
Leisure-time physical activity associates with cognitive decline. The Northern Manhattan Study. Neurology May 17, 2016 vol. 86 no. 20 1897-1903
Researchers
Joshua Z. Willey, MD, MS Hannah Gardener, PhD Michelle R. Caunca, BS Yeseon Park Moon, MS Chuanhui Dong, PhD Yuen K. Cheung, PhD Ralph L. Sacco, MD, MS Mitchell S.V. Elkind, MD, MS Clinton B. Wright, MD, MS
Original source: http://www.neurology.org/content/86/20/1897
