According to a new study, six months of daily brisk walks improved cardiovascular fitness as well as white matter and memory.
Your body begins to lose muscle mass and bone density around the age of 30, and your brain begins to lose volume around the age of 40, at a rate of around 5% every decade.
According to BrainFacts.org, some study suggests that our working memory — the ability to remember a piece of information such as a password or street address — begins to deteriorate in our thirties.
However, according to a new study from Colorado State University, you may be able to slow down the aging process, at least when it comes to your brain.
Participants who completed six months of daily brisk walks had greater cardiovascular fitness and increases in white matter and memory than those who conducted stretching and balance exercises for the same length of time, according to the study, which was published online June 24 in Neuroimage.
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Gray matter is the light bulb and white matter is the wiring that connects it to your house
Andrea Mendez Colmenares
Although this isn’t the first study to show that physical activity slows cognitive decline and even promotes positive changes in the brain (a process known as neural plasticity), according to a review published in December 2020 in Neural Plasticity, most of those studies focused on gray matter, which is the outer layer of the brain and contains a high concentration of neurons.
According to MedlinePlus, this new study focused on a less studied component of the brain called white matter, which is present in the brain’s deeper tissues and contains nerve fibers, which are extensions of neurons. Normal brain function necessitates both white and gray matter.
Andrea Mendez Colmenares, a cognitive neuroscience PhD student at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, and the principal author of the new study, suggests thinking of gray and white matter in terms of electricity.
“Gray matter is the light bulb and white matter is wiring that connects it to your house,” she continues.
Because white matter has been found to degrade in both healthy aging and dementia, the scientists say it’s critical to see if the process can be slowed or even reversed.
Researchers wanted to see if physical activity may produce favorable changes in white matter because of the documented effects of cardiovascular exercise on cognitive performance.
Walking was linked to improved white brain matter and improved memory
The study comprised 247 persons over the age of 60, 68 percent of whom were female, and who were sedentary but otherwise healthy seniors with no history of neurological disorders like dementia or stroke.
At the start of the trial, participants were given baseline tests on memory, cognitive abilities, and cardiorespiratory fitness, as well as a unique MRI brain scan to assess the health and function of white matter.
Participants were divided into three groups and met three times a week for six months, with one group taking brisk 40-minute walks, another stretching and balance training, and a third learning and practicing choreographed dances. The brain tests and imaging were redone at the conclusion of the intervention.
After six months of daily movement, researchers discovered that walkers and dancers had improved overall cardiovascular health.
While both groups showed favorable increases in their white matter, the walkers’ changes were more noticeable.
Certain regions of the brain appeared larger on MRI pictures, and tissue lesions (a symptom of brain injury) had reduced.
There was a reduction in white matter health in the control group.
“We believe these findings are significant since the locations we studied are prone to aging and dementia.
This indicates that the white matter is pliable, and that even in places prone to aging or disease, a response to an exercise intervention can be seen,” adds Colmenares.
The only group in which alterations in white matter were linked to improved memory was the walking group.
According to the authors, it’s unclear why the dancers didn’t make the same progress, but it could be because they were receiving training and weren’t moving as forcefully during their sessions.
This could indicate that aerobic activity was a major contributor to the white matter benefits.
This study differs from others in that it was a randomized controlled trial rather than an observational study, according to Colmenares.
The majority of research looking into the effects of exercise rely on participants reporting on what they are already doing, which can make the results less credible.
“We actually did an exercise intervention,” she explains, “where these patients came to walk, dance, or do balance training in a controlled environment.”
What is good for the heart is also good for the brain
This study wasn’t designed to figure out why walking is healthy for white matter, but Colmenares believes it’s due to a mix of things.
“Regular exercise that raises your heart rate is beneficial for your heart, and what is healthy for the heart is good for the brain,” she explains.
She emphasizes that exercise increases oxygen and blood flow to all parts of the body, including the brain.
“This has the potential to lower blood pressure, which is essential because high blood pressure is one of the leading causes of dementia and neurological disease,” she explains.
According to Colmenares, regular physical activity is linked to better sleep and less stress, which may have a favorable impact on the brain.