Physical Activity Helps to Preserve Brain Structure & Activity

Previous studies suggest a protective action of physical activity on memory and learning.  Alan J. Gow, from the University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom), and colleagues  studied the role of exercise on the structure of the brain.  The team studied a group of men and women, averaging in their early 70s, assessing the subjects for self-reported leisure and physical activity at age 70 years and structural brain biomarkers at 73 years.  The researchers observed that the participants who participated in regular physical activity were less likely to experience loss of brain volume and other changes in brain structure. After adjusting for confounding variables, the investigators revealed that physical activity not only  significantly associated with less brain atrophy but it associated with increased gray matter volume as well as a decrease in the computed volume of white matter lesions. Observing that: “physical activity was associated with less atrophy and [white matter lesions],” the study authors submit that: “Its role as a potential neuroprotective factor is supported.”