Regular exercise may protect against the normal memory decline
of aging. Im reluctant to think of any memory loss as normal.
But by age 65, more than half of adults say they are concerned
about memory problems. Research from the University of
Pittsburgh, however, is encouraging. It suggests that we can
fight back against memory loss. In the study, older adults were
divided into two groups. One group walked briskly for 40 minutes
per day, three times a week. The other group performed
stretching exercises for the same amount of time. One year
later, people in both groups were more physically fit than they
were when the study began. The walkers, however, improved
significantly more than the stretchers. All the participants did
better on memory tests. But yet again, the walking group did
even better than the stretching group. Moreover, test scores
correlated closely to brain scans taken at the start of the
study and one year later. A structure in the brain, the
hippocampus, helps process memories. It shrinks 1-2%