Protecting your brain as you age isn’t about one big change—it’s about habits built over many years.
A new study from the AdventHealth Research Institute shows that keeping up with regular aerobic exercise might help your brain stay biologically younger. This could lead to better thinking, memory, and mental well-being over time.
The study found that adults who stuck to a full year of aerobic exercise had brains that looked nearly a year younger on scans than people who didn’t change their activity level. These results offer a hopeful message for anyone wondering how to support their brain health with everyday habits.
The research was published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science. It focused on “brain age,” a measurement made by using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans.
Brain age shows how old your brain looks compared to your actual age. If your brain appears older than you are, that’s usually linked with worse thinking ability, lower physical performance, and a higher chance of serious health issues like stroke or dementia.
Dr. Lu Wan, the study’s lead author, explained that even a small change in brain age could matter a lot over time. “We found that a simple, guideline-based exercise program can make the brain look measurably younger over just 12 months,” Wan said. “Even a one-year difference in brain age might make a big impact as people get older.”
The study involved 130 healthy adults aged 26 to 58. They were randomly placed into one of two groups. One group followed a moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise routine.
This included two supervised 60-minute workouts each week and home exercises to reach about 150 minutes of total weekly activity—the amount recommended by health guidelines. The other group continued with their usual habits.
At the beginning and end of the 12-month trial, researchers used brain scans to assess brain structure and measured cardiorespiratory fitness using a test called VO2peak, which checks how well the body uses oxygen during exercise.
The results were clear. After a year, the people who exercised had brains that looked younger. Their brain-predicted age difference (or brain-PAD) dropped by about 0.6 years.
Meanwhile, the control group saw their brain-PAD increase by about 0.35 years, though this wasn’t a major change. The overall difference between the two groups was close to one full year—with the exercise group coming out ahead.
Dr. Kirk Erickson, senior author of the study, emphasized the importance of these changes. “Even though the difference is less than a year, earlier research suggests that each year of brain age matters,” he said. “Helping the brain stay younger during midlife may reduce risks of cognitive decline later on.”
The researchers tried to find out why exercise helped reduce brain age. They looked at changes in physical fitness, body weight, blood pressure, and levels of a brain-supporting protein called BDNF.
While fitness clearly improved in the exercise group, none of these factors fully explained the brain-PAD change. This suggests that exercise may affect the brain through other subtle ways—perhaps improving blood flow, reducing inflammation, or triggering small changes in brain structure.
Most studies on brain aging focus on older adults, but this one looked at people in their 30s to 50s. The idea is to start early—before major problems appear. As Dr. Erickson explained, “Intervening in the 30s, 40s, and 50s gives us a head start. It may help delay or reduce future risk of dementia.”
Still, the researchers caution that their study included healthy and mostly well-educated people, and the brain changes were modest. They hope that future research with larger groups and longer follow-ups will show whether keeping the brain younger with exercise leads to fewer strokes, less memory loss, or lower risk of dementia.
In the meantime, the message is simple: Moving your body now may help protect your brain later. Just 150 minutes a week of aerobic activity—like brisk walking, swimming, or biking—could help your brain stay younger as you age.
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