Aerobic Exercise and Memory: How Are They Connected?

Brain Health is a unique series focused on how to help you age well. These stories have been created in cooperation with AARP and Word In Black.

Aerobic exercise — the kind that makes you breathe harder and gets your heart rate up — can benefit your brain in several ways. There’s more to learn, but recent research suggests that aerobic activities like dancing, cycling and brisk walking may help improve your thinking and memory skills by boosting blood flow to the brain. That blood supply brings the oxygen and nutrients the brain needs to function at its best.

In a 12-month study of 56 cognitively healthy adults in their 60s and 70s published in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism in 2022, participants were randomly assigned to either aerobic exercise training — exercises that significantly raised their heart rate — or a stretching and toning program. All participants received MRIs and cognitive and cardiovascular tests at the beginning and end of the trial.

TO READ ABOUT THE STUDY’S RESULTS AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CONNECTION BETWEEN AEROBIC EXERCISE AND MEMORY, CLICK THIS AARP LINK.