one of the most exciting areas of exercise research is the investigation of cognitive function. what scientists have learned so far is that brain neurons the special cells that help you think move perform all the bodily functions that keep you alive and even help your memory all increase in number after just a few days or weeks of regular activity. in a study where researchers used an mri machine to measure the amount of brain tissue in adults 55 years of age and older they found -- consistent with other studies of aging and brain volume -- that there were substantial declines in brain tissue density as a function of age in areas of the brain responsible for thinking and memory but importantly the losses in these areas were substantially reduced as a function of cardiovascular fitness. in other words the fittest individuals had the most brain tissue. how might fitness and more brain tissue help you? in another meta-analysis of older adults researchers found that the fittest individuals had the highest scores on tasks like coordination scheduling planning and memory. and in a recent study of 1 740 adults older than 65 researchers found that the incidence of dementia in individuals who walked three or more times per week was 35% lower than those individuals who walked less than three days per week.
does exercise help cognitive function?