A new study appears to suggest that walking may stave off memory loss and dementia in old age. The report, published on October 13, in Neurology, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology, shows the results of tracking the physical activity and cognitive patterns of nearly 300 adults.
“By walking regularly, and maintaining a little bit of moderate physical activity, you can reduce your likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease and spare brain tissue,” Kirk I. Erickson, the study’s lead author, said.
Erickson and other researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have been looking into links between walking and memory since the 1980’s.
The study participants, on average 78 years old and about two-thirds being women, were in good cognitive health at the start of the research. The researchers measured how much each person walked and nine years later MRI scans found them all to be “cognitively normal.” But after four more years, further testing showed a little more than one third of the participants had developed a mild cognitive impairment or dementia.
The research team found that being more physically active appeared to lower the risk of developing this impairment. The researchers said the relationship between walking and brain health appears to apply only to people who regularly walk relatively long distances. However some Walkhighlands users might disagree with the researcher’s view that 9 miles a week is a “relatively long distance”, but at least most will be able to draw some cheer from the findings.