Posted on Monday, 11th October 2010 by Brooke Richmond
What do the cards hold for our brains as we age?
Like any other muscle in the body, you got to use it or lose it, but a new study suggests a proper workout for the mind doesn’t necessarily involve crossword puzzles.
Researcher Kirk Erickson of the University of Pittsburgh says it could be as simple as putting on a pair of walking shoes.
“We could predict how much brain tissue you would have simply by asking you — how many blocks do you walk?” he said.
His study found that adults who walked about a mile a day had greater brain volume a decade later than those who didn’t walk as much. After 13 years, the walkers were about half as likely to develop dementia or other memory problems.
This phenomenon held true, regardless of family history.
“If we exercise our physical muscles and work our cardiovascular system, so that we work our lungs and our heart, that will have an impact on our brains,” said Dr. Erickson.
The magic number seems to be six to nine miles of walking each week. Any more than that did not provide further benefit for brain health.
The research included data on nearly 300 people, average age 78 at the beginning of the study.
The study is published in the Oct 13 on-line edition of the journal Neurology.
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Tags: Brain, Brain Shrinkage
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