Daily Activity Levels & The Measurable Difference They Make To Brain Health

Most studies into the difference that exercise makes to cognitive decline are retrospective, i.e. they look backwards in time, asking participants what their exercise habits were like in the past [so many] years, and tallying that against their cognitive health in the present.

Some studies are interventional, and those are most often 3, 6, or 12 months, depending on funding. In those cases, they make a hypothesis (e.g. this intervention will boost this measure of brain health) and then test it.

However, humans aren’t generally great at making short term decisions for long term gains. In other words: if it’s rainy out, or you’re a little pushed for time, you’re likely to take the car over walking regardless of what data point this adjusts in an overarching pattern that will affect your brain’s amyloid-β clean-up rates in 5–20 years time.

Nine days

The study we’re going to look at today was a 9-day observational study, using smartphone-based tracking with check-ins every 3½ hours, with participants reporting their physical activity as light, moderate, or intense (these terms were defined and exemplified, so that everyone involved was singing from the same songsheet in terms of what activities constitute what intensity).

The sample size was reasonable (n=204) and was generally heterogenous sample (i.e. varied in terms of sex, racial background, and fitness level) of New Yorkers aged 40–65.

So, the input variable was activity level, and the output variable was cognitive fitness.

As to how they measured the output, two brain games assessed:

1. cognitive processing speed, and
2. working memory (a proxy for executive function).

What they found:

1. participants active within the last 3½ hours had faster processing speed, equivalent to being four years younger
2. response times in the working memory (for: executive function) task reflected similar processing speed improvements, for participants active in the last 3½ hours

And, which is important to note,

❝This benefit was observed regardless of whether the activities they reported were higher intensity (e.g., running/jogging) or lower intensity (e.g., walking, chores).❞

~ Dr. Lizbeth Benson et al.

Source: Cognitive Health Benefits of Everyday Physical Activity in a Diverse Sample of Middle-Aged Adults

Practical take-away:

Move more often! At least every couple of hours (when not sleeping)!

The benefits will benefit you in the now, as well as down the line.

See also:

The Doctor Who Wants Us To Exercise Less, & Move More

and, for that matter:

Do You Love To Go To The Gym? No? Enjoy These “No-Exercise Exercises”!

Take care!