Walk more to prevent dementia and delay aging

A recent long-term survey showed that people who walk more often have larger gray matter volumes in their brains and a lower risk of cognitive impairment.

Dr. Erickson, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, conducted a 13-year follow-up survey on 299 subjects to study the relationship between physical activity and gray and white matter volume and cognitive dysfunction. The 299 subjects were all healthy adults (average age 78 years) at the beginning of the survey. The subjects' weekly walking distance ranged from 0 to 300 blocks, with an average of 56.3 blocks.

The survey results showed that after 9 years, the subjects who walked more than 72 blocks (about 9.7 to 14.5 kilometers) per week had larger gray and white matter volumes in the forebrain, hindbrain and hippocampus than those who walked less; after 13 years, the rate of cognitive impairment in the subjects who walked more was half that of the group who walked less.

Researchers analyzed that the brain volume of the elderly will shrink, thus affecting their memory. If they exercise regularly starting from middle age, it will help maintain normal thinking ability and memory of the brain in old age.