Can Couch Potatoes End Up With Smaller Brains?

A new study links poor fitness in middle age to smaller brains twenty years later. Published in the journal Neurology, the study included 1,094 participants with an average age of 40, their fitness levels were measured twenty years apart. In the second test, an MRI scan was used to measure brain volume, and it was found that the subjects with the lowest levels of fitness (as determined by measuring their heart rate during exercise) were more likely to have smaller brains at an older age. The study isn't perfect; they didn't measure brain size at the start of the study. But it seems to confirm suspicions that exercise's consequence of increasing blood flow and oxygen to the brain can have an impact on brain aging over the long term.

Someone forward you this email? No Sweat! Sign up here to get your own If you're having trouble viewing this email, click here Follow Us Can Couch Potatoes End Up With Smaller Brains? A new study links poor fitness in middle age to smaller brains twenty years later.  Published in the journal Neurology, the study included 1,094 participants with an average age of 40 and their fitness levels were measured twenty years apart.  In the second test, an MRI scan was used to measure brain volume, and it was found that the subjects with the lowest levels of fitness (as determined by measuring their heart rate during exercise) were more likely to have smaller brains at an older age.  The study isn’t perfect; they didn’t measure brain size at the start of the study. But it seems to confirm suspicions that exercise’s consequence of increasing blood flow and oxygen to the brain can have an impact on brain aging over the long term. Nicholas English Content Manager of About.com Health How to Go From Couch Potato to Fitness Buff in 6 Weeks READ NOW There Are Actually Three Ways Exercise Benefits People With Dementia    READ NOW Mental Exercise: 12 Ways to Work Out Your Brain    READ NOW 8 Mental Health Resolutions You Shouldn't Make READ NOW Trending Now • Running After 40: How to Prevent Those Injuries • 12 Easy Ways to Rid Yourself of Acid Reflux • 10 Yoga Stretches You Should Do Every Day to Feel Amazing • The Real First Step to Any Successful Weight Loss • How to Use Pilates When You Have Osteoporosis • The Superfoods That Can Lower Lung Cancer Risk • 5 Medical Treatments That Were Total Fails Advertisement About Health  |  Follow Us You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About Health newsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click here 1500 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, NY, 10036 © 2016 About.com - All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.