Even Simple Exercise May Help Aging Brain, Study Hints Lauran Neergaard - Associated Press
go to original August 7, 2022

How Exercise Slows Brain Ageing (Ology)

New research hints that even a simple exercise routine just might help older people with mild memory problems.

Doctors have long advised physical activity to help keep a healthy brain fit. But the government-funded study marks the longest test of whether exercise makes any difference once memory starts to slide — research performed amid a pandemic that added isolation to the list of risks to participants’ brain health.

Researchers recruited about 300 sedentary older adults with hard-to-spot memory changes called mild cognitive impairment or MCI - a condition that’s sometimes, but not always, a precursor to Alzheimer’s. Half were assigned aerobic exercises and the rest stretching-and-balance moves that only modestly raised their heart rate.

The Best Type of Exercise for Your Brain (Dr. Eric Berg DC)

Another key component: Participants in both groups were showered with attention by trainers who worked with them at YMCAs around the country - and when COVID-19 shut down gyms, helped them keep moving at home via video calls.

After a year, cognitive testing showed overall neither group had worsened, said lead researcher Laura Baker, a neuroscientist at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Nor did brain scans show the shrinkage that accompanies worsening memory problems, she said.

By comparison, similar MCI patients in another long-term study of brain health -- but without exercise -- experienced significant cognitive decline over a year.

Read the rest at Associated Press

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