AEROBIC exercise can expand the brain and restore powers of memory lost with age, research has shown.
One year of moderate exercise was found to increase the size of the hippocampus – the part of the brain vital to memory and learning – in a group of older adults.
Participants showed an improvement in spatial memory function – the kind that helps us remember how to get to places, or where we left our keys.
Half were asked to follow an aerobic exercise regime, walking around a track for 40 minutes a day, three days a week. The rest were given stretching and toning exercises, but no aerobic content.
After 12 months, the aerobic group showed an increase in the hippocampus, while those who did stretching exercises had decreased in volume.
