Another Reason to Exercise: It's Good for Your Brain

Exercise is an amazing thing.

Not only does it help you lose weight and lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes, apparently it also keeps your brain in shape, too.

In fact, it helps protect against brain shrinkage, which may lead to memory and thinking problems, according to a news release from the American Academy of Neurology.

According to researchers in Scotland, exercise was better at protecting the brain from shrinkage compared to mental and socially stimulating activities.

“People in their seventies who participated in more physical exercise, including walking several times a week, had less brain shrinkage and other signs of aging in the brain than those who were less physically active,” said study author Alan J. Gow, with the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. “On the other hand, our study showed no real benefit to participating in mentally and socially stimulating activities on brain size, as seen on MRI scans, over the three-year time frame.”

For the study, researchers followed more than 600 people born in 1936. Using MRI scans and data on exercise routines as well as participation in social and mentally stimulating activities, researchers found that after three years “people who participated in more physical activity experienced less brain shrinkage than those who exercised minimally,” the release states.

“Our results show that regularly exercising in old age is potentially important to protecting the brain as we age,” Gow said.

The study was published in the medical journal Neurology.

Alice Warchol is a freelance health blog writer and fitness instructor.

+ Read More about Exercise Benefits

+ Learn about Physical Therapy Programs