Want to make it to middle age with the memory, problem solving skills, and general mental acuity you’ve enjoyed in your youth? Go for a run. Regularly.
A study published in Neurology has found that people who exercised regularly in their twenties enjoyed better cognitive function in their forties compared to their peers. Researchers figured this out by following 2,747 men and women for twenty-five years as part of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study. The cohort has had everything from their cholesterol to their exercise routines recorded for the past few decades, and recent simple memory tests (memorize a fifteen word list—that sort of thing) found that people with a high level of fitness—especially over a period of time—did the best on the memory test.
Not in your twenties? Not a problem. Researchers say that it’s almost never too late to start exercising regularly—after all, it’s conceivable that you might see some memory benefits when you’re in your seventies.
