Boost your brain power with simple movements! Walking, cleaning, or light exercise can sharpen your mind and make you feel years younger- instantly.

Exercise has been found to benefit brain function and lower the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in the long run. However, a new study from the Penn State College of Medicine found that regular physical activity offers immediate benefits for brain health.

The researchers discovered that middle-aged people who engaged in everyday movement showed cognitive processing speed improvements equivalent to being four years younger, regardless of whether the activity was low-intensity, such as walking the dog or doing housework, or high-intensity, such as running.

The findings were reported in the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine (1).

Does Physical Exercise Improve Brain Health?

“You don’t have to go to the gym to experience all the potential benefits of physical activity,” said Jonathan Hakun, an assistant professor of neurology and psychology at Penn State and the Penn State College of Medicine. “Every movement is crucial. Everyday mobility counts as a source of accumulated physical activity that can contribute to a healthy lifestyle and may have a direct impact on cognitive health.”

Previous research on the association between physical exercise and cognitive health has mainly focused on the long term, such as spanning decades in a retrospective study or months to a year in intervention trials. Hakun stated that he was interested in connecting the dots sooner to better understand the possible short-term influence of physical activity on cognitive health.

The research team used smartphone technology to connect with individuals several times throughout their usual daily lives, following a methodology known as ecological momentary assessment. Over the course of nine days, participants checked in six times per day, or every 3.5 hours.

During each check-in, participants were asked if they had been physically active since the previous one. If they were active, they were asked to rank the intensity of their exercise as light, moderate, or strong. For example, strolling and cleaning were deemed mild intensity, whereas running, rapid biking, and strenuous trekking were rated vigorous intensity. Participants were then asked to play two “brain games,” one to test cognitive processing speed and the other to assess working memory, which Hakun described as a proxy for executive function.

The researchers examined data from 204 people who were enrolled for the Multicultural Healthy Diet Study to Reduce Cognitive Decline and Alzheimer’s Risk. The data was acquired during the study’s baseline period. Participants ranged in age from 40 to 65 and lived in the Bronx, NY. They had no history of cognitive impairment. Half of the participants were black or African American, while 34% were Hispanic.

Physical Activity Improves Brain Function

The researchers discovered that when subjects reported being physically active within the previous 3.5 hours, they demonstrated processing speed gains similar to being four years younger. While there were no apparent gains in working memory, the reaction time during the working memory task paralleled the increases in processing speed.

“As we age, we get slower, both physically and cognitively. The idea here is that we may temporarily offset that with movement. “It’s compelling,” Hakun stated. “There’s the potential for a brief walk or a little extra movement to give you a boost.”

Furthermore, persons who reported being active more frequently saw stronger short-term advantages than those who reported less physical exercise overall. According to Hakun, regular physical activity may improve cognitive health. However, he emphasized that additional research is needed to determine how much physical activity, as well as the frequency and timing of activity, affects cognitive health.

Hakun suggests that future studies might combine ecological momentary assessment with activity-tracking techniques to better track the relationship between observable physical activity, behavior, and cognitive outcomes. He also intends to collect data over a longer period of time to determine how daily physical activity affects cognitive health over time in comparison to natural aging.

References:

1. Cognitive Health Benefits of Everyday Physical Activity in a Diverse Sample of Middle-Aged Adults
   (Jonathan G Hakun, Lizbeth Benson, Tian Qiu, Daniel B Elbich, Mindy Katz, Pamela A Shaw, Martin J Sliwinski, Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani, Cognitive Health Benefits of Everyday Physical Activity in a Diverse Sample of Middle-Aged Adults, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 2024;, kaae059, https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaae059)

Source-Medindia