Washington DC [US], March 14 (HBTV): New research suggests that regular aerobic exercise can help keep the brain biologically younger. Adults who exercised regularly for a year showed brains that appeared nearly a year younger than those who did not change their habits.
The study focused on midlife, a critical window when preventive measures may offer long-term benefits. Even small shifts in brain age could accumulate into significant advantages over decades.
New findings from the AdventHealth Research Institute indicate that maintaining a consistent aerobic exercise routine may help the brain remain biologically younger, supporting clearer thinking, better memory and overall mental well-being.
The research showed that adults who committed to a full year of aerobic exercise had brains that appeared almost a year younger than those of participants who did not change their level of activity.
Published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science, the study examined whether regular aerobic exercise could slow or even reverse what scientists call ‘brain age’.
Brain age is estimated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and reflects how old the brain appears compared to a person’s actual age. A higher brain-predicted age difference (brain-PAD) means the brain looks older. Earlier studies have linked this measure to weaker physical and cognitive performance and a higher risk of death.
‘We found that a simple, guideline-based exercise programme can make the brain look measurably younger over just 12 months,’ said Dr Lu Wan, lead author and data scientist at the AdventHealth Research Institute.
‘Many people worry about how to protect their brain health as they age. Studies like this offer hopeful guidance grounded in everyday habits. These absolute changes were modest, but even a one-year shift in brain age could matter over the course of decades,’ Wan added.
The clinical trial included 130 healthy adults between the ages of 26 and 58. Participants were randomly assigned to either a moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise group or a usual-care control group.
Those in the exercise group completed two supervised 60-minute workout sessions each week in a laboratory and added home-based exercise to reach roughly 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week, aligning with the American College of Sports Medicine’s physical activity guidelines.
Researchers measured brain structure using MRI scans and assessed cardiorespiratory fitness through peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) at the start of the study and again after 12 months.
After one year, clear differences emerged between the two groups. Participants who exercised showed a measurable decrease in brain age, while those in the control group showed a slight increase.
On average, the exercise group saw their brain-PAD drop by about 0.6 years, meaning their brains appeared younger at the end of the study. The control group’s brains appeared about 0.35 years older, a change that was not statistically significant.
When compared directly, the difference between the two groups was close to one full year in favour of the exercise group.
‘Even though the difference is less than a year, prior studies suggest that each additional year of brain age is associated with meaningful differences in later-life health,’ said Dr Kirk I. Erickson, senior author of the study and a neuroscientist and director at the AdventHealth Research Institute and the University of Pittsburgh. ‘From a lifespan perspective, nudging the brain in a younger direction in midlife could be very important.’
To better understand why exercise influences brain ageing, the research team examined several potential factors, including changes in physical fitness, body composition, blood pressure and levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that supports brain plasticity.
Although fitness levels improved with exercise, none of these factors statistically accounted for the reduction in brain-PAD observed in the trial.
‘That was a surprise,’ Wan said. ‘We expected improvements in fitness or blood pressure to account for the effect, but they did not. Exercise may be acting through additional mechanisms we have not captured yet, such as subtle changes in brain structure, inflammation, vascular health or other molecular factors.’
Many studies on exercise and brain health focus on older adults, after age-related changes have already become more pronounced. This trial instead targeted people in early to mid-adulthood, when brain changes are harder to detect but prevention may offer greater long-term benefits.
‘Intervening in the 30s, 40s and 50s gives us a head start. If we can slow brain ageing before major problems appear, we may be able to delay or reduce the risk of later-life cognitive decline and dementia,’ Erickson said.
The authors cautioned that the study involved healthy, relatively well-educated volunteers and that the changes in brain age were modest. They noted that larger studies and longer follow-up periods are needed to determine whether these reductions in brain-PAD lead to lower risks of stroke, dementia or other brain-related diseases.
‘People often ask, “Is there anything I can do now to protect my brain later?”’ Erickson said.
‘Our findings support the idea that following current exercise guidelines — 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic activity — may help keep the brain biologically younger, even in midlife,’ he concluded.
(ANI)