Loyal readers recall, no doubt, that exercise has been shown to sharpen our spacial skills. Now two new studies, both published in the Archives of Neurology, strongly suggest that exercise can improve cognitive function in older people and can diminish the likelihood of cognitive impairment in mid-life.The Los Angeles Times reports on one study involving 33 people, average age 70, that found that 45 minutes of vigorous exercise four days a week improved several cognitive functions, including multitasking, cognitive
flexibility, information processing efficiency and selective attention. What's surprising (to men)? Those improvements were seen mainly in women. Read an abstract of the study here. A second study, also cited by the L.A. Times, looked at data on 1,324 people who were part of the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. Researchers found that moderate exercise in midlife was linked with a 39 percent reduction in the
odds of developing mild cognitive impairment, and moderate exercise later
in life was associated with a 32 percent decrease. Read an abstract from that study here.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Of the 33 people involved, 17 were women who tend to live longer than men.
The age span covered 30 years from ages 55 to 75, but the article does not tell us the representative ages in terms of men and women.
Other factors also enter in like women tend to go to the doctor and take care of themselves better than men do.
I would like to know if the group selected were basically of the same level of health. Where one starts in any test does influence outcome.
My other question is was the male to female ratio the same in the test group and the control group. I’d also like to know their respective age mean.
All of these factors could have influenced the results.
With all of the PhD’s and MD’s in this study, I would have expected better research methodology than I read in this report.
Mr. Crowe is exactly right. I would add that a deeper level flaw is that the areas examined seem to be biased towards female brain function rather than male. Male/female brain differences are significant and maybe some of the result is “apples and oranges”. In any case whichever way the scales tip, exercise improves function in everyone.