Step-Count Study Shows How Even Basic Exercise Impacts Aging in the Brain

A study published in JAMA Network Open suggests even small amounts of exercise can make a difference in combating dementia, reports Inverse . A combination of fitness tracker data and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans demonstrated how light exercise can reduce biomarkers of aging in the brain. Each hour of light exercise was associated with brain volume measurements equivalent to 1.1 fewer years of brain aging, and reaching basic step-count thresholds also appeared to be significantly associated with maintaining the brain's youth. The researchers examined 2,354 individuals who had fMRI scans of their brains, and also wore accelerometers to keep track of their steps. Step counts had strong associations with lower rates of brain aging, and people who averaged 10,000 steps or more each day tended to have 0.35 percent higher brain volume than those who averaged less than 5,000 steps a day. That additional activity was linked to the equivalent of 1.75 fewer years of brain aging.