We all know exercise is good for us, but that still leaves plenty of questions. How much exercise? Who benefits the most? And when in our lives?
In a new study from the University of Pittsburgh, researchers reviewed data from dozens of studies to answer these questions.
They found that older adults may be able to prevent declines in a certain kind of memory by sticking to regular exercise.
Exercising about three times a week for at least four months could boost episodic memory.
Episodic memory is the kind that deals with events that happened to you in the past. It’s also one of the first to decline with age.
Exercise that gets the heart pumping has shown promise in increasing brain health, and experiments in mice show that it improves memory—but studies looking at the same link in humans have come out mixed.
In the study, the team used specialized software and no small number of Excel spreadsheets to transform the data into a form where the different studies could be directly compared.
They found that pooling together those 36 studies was enough to show that for older adults, exercise can indeed benefit their memory.
They found that there were greater improvements in memory among those who are age 55 to 68 years compared to those who are 69 to 85 years old—so intervening earlier is better
The team also found the greatest effects of exercise in those who hadn’t yet experienced any cognitive decline, and in studies where participants exercised consistently several times a week.
Another key was focusing specifically on episodic memory, which is supported by a part of the brain that’s known to benefit from exercise.
There are still questions left to be answered. The team’s analysis couldn’t answer how the intensity of exercise affects the memory benefits, and there’s plenty to learn about the mechanism behind the link.
But the implications for public health are clear: Exercise is an accessible way older adults can stave off memory declines, benefiting themselves, their caretakers, and the healthcare system.
If you care about brain health, please read studies that drug could improve memory in Alzheimer’s disease, and processed meat may increase your dementia risk.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about mental problem that can help predict dementia years before memory loss, and results showing this healthy diet may strongly prevent memory loss and dementia.
The study is published in Communications Medicine and was conducted by Sarah Aghjayan et al.
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