Aerobic exercise reverses age-related memory loss among subjects in trial

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

A randomized controlled trial shows that aerobic exercise training can improve spatial memory. The hippocampus generally shrinks in late adulthood, which causes impaired memory and higher risks of dementia. 

When subjects in the trail exercised, the size of the anterior hippocampus increased its volume by 2 percent, leading to the spatial memory improvements and the reversal of age-related memory loss by one to two years.

In the control group, the volume of the hippocampus decreased, but the researchers found that the subjects’ pre-trial fitness levels attenuated the volume, suggesting that exercise can have a protective effect when it comes to volume loss and memory.