Improving fitness may counteract brain atrophy in older adults

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/uom-ifm111915.php

Public Release: 19-Nov-2015
Improving fitness may counteract brain atrophy in older adults, UMD study shows
Exercise may help to reverse neurodegeneration in those with mild cognitive impairment, an early stage of Alzheimer's disease
University of Maryland

Older adults that improved their fitness through a moderate intensity exercise program increased the thickness of their brain's cortex, the outer layer of the brain that typically atrophies with Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study from the University of Maryland School of Public Health. These effects were found in both healthy older adults and those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), an early stage of Alzheimer's disease.

"Exercise may help to reverse neurodegeneration and the trend of brain shrinkage that we see in those with MCI and Alzheimer's," says Dr. J. Carson Smith, associate professor of kinesiology and senior author of the study, published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society on Nov. 19, 2015. "Many people think it is too late to intervene with exercise once a person shows symptoms of memory loss, but our data suggest that exercise may have a benefit in this early stage of cognitive decline."

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