People at high risk for Alzheimer's could help slow the progression of memory loss by hopping on the treadmill.


A small new study from the University of Maryland School of Public Health shows that exercise seems to decrease Alzheimer's risk among people with mild cognitive impairment, a significant risk factor for Alzheimer's.


"We found that after 12 weeks of being on a moderate exercise program[1] , study participants improved their neural efficiency -- basically they were using fewer neural resources to perform the same memory task," study researcher Dr. J. Carson Smith, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the university, said in a statement. "No study has shown that a drug can do what we showed is possible with exercise."


The study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease[2] , included 17 people with mild cognitive impairment and 18 people who still had normal cognitive functioning, all with an average age of 78. Researchers had all the study participants undergo 12 weeks of of a trainer-guided exercise program, that involved regular walks on a treadmill.


By the end of the 12 weeks, both those with mild cognitive impairment and those with healthy brain functioning had improved cardiovascular fitness by 10 percent. Plus, both groups had improved performance on memory tests, as well as improved neural efficiency, after the program.


This is hardly the first time research has highlighted the brain-boosting effects of exercise. A study from the University of California, Irvine, showed that short bursts of exercise improved memory consolidation among older people both with and without memory deficits. And another study, conducted on women with mild cognitive impairment, showed that endurance and strength training boost memory, while toning exercises -- like stretching -- don't seem to have any effect, The New York Times reported.

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  • It Sharpens Thinking


    Earlier this year, Dartmouth researchers <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/31/exercise-makes-you-smarter-adhd-research_n_1528383.html">added support to mounting evidence about the way that exercise affects learning</a> and mental acuity: it boosts the production of “brain derived neurotrophic factor" -- or BDNF – a protein that is thought to help with mental acuity, learning and memory.




  • It May Alleviate Childhood ADHD Symptoms


    In the same Dartmouth study, the researchers discovered that, thanks to the BDNF boost, exercise also helped to <a href="http://www.wired.com/playbook/2012/05/exercise-memory-and-adhd/">alleviate ADHD-like symptoms in juvenile rats</a>. Since BDNF is involved in the brain's development and growth of new cells, the effect was more profound on the younger rats, with their still-developing brains and more rapid cell turnover, compared to adult rats.




  • It Helps You Learn New Tricks


    Even one exercise session can help you retain physical skills by enhancing what's commonly known as "muscle memory" or "motor memory," according to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3433433/">new research published in <em>PlosOne</em>.</a> <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/how-exercise-can-help-you-master-new-skills/">As the New York <em>Times</em> reported</a>, men who were taught to follow a complicated pattern on a computer and subsequently exercised were better able to remember the pattern in subsequent days than the men who didn't exercise after the initial squiggle test.




  • It Supports Problem-Solving


    In one study, mice that exercised by running not only generated new neurons, but those neurons lit up when the mice performed unfamiliar tasks like <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/how-exercise-could-lead-to-a-better-brain.html?pagewanted=all">navigating a new environment</a>.




  • It Helps Alleviate Symptoms Of Depression


    When you exercise, your pituitary gland releases endorphins to help mitigate the physical stress and pain you are experiencing. But those endorphins may play a more important and longer-lasting role: they could help alleviate symptoms of depression, <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression-and-exercise/MH00043">according to a Mayo Clinic report</a>.




  • It Reduces Stress


    Although exercising raises our levels of cortisol -- the hormone that causes physical stress and is even associated with long-term memory impairment -- its overall effect is one of a stress reducer. That's because exercise increases the <a href="http://www.hormones.gr/57/article/article.html">body's threshold for cortisol</a>, making you more inured to stressors.




  • It Helps Delay Age-Associated Memory Loss


    As we get older, an area of the brain called the hippocampus shrinks. That's why age is associated with memory loss across the board. However, profound memory loss -- such as in dementia and Alzheimer's disease patients -- is also contributed to by accelerated hippocampus shrinking. Luckily, the hippocampus is also an area of the brain that generate new neurons throughout a lifespan. And, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/02/21/133777018/aerobic-exercise-may-improve-memory-in-seniors">the research shows</a>, exercise promotes new neural growth in this area.