- A study suggests aerobic exercise can make your brain appear measurably younger.
- Exercising 150 minutes per week resulted in brains that looked nearly a year younger.
- The researchers focused on participants in midlife, or ages 26 to 58.
You’ve probably heard that exercise is good for your heart, your mood and your waistline. But what about your brain? New research suggests that one of the best things you can do to keep your mind sharp as you age may be as simple as lacing up your sneakers and going for a brisk walk.
Scientists have long known that physical activity is linked to better cognitive function later in life. Studies have connected regular movement with improved memory, sharper thinking and even a reduced risk of dementia. What’s been less clear is whether exercise can actually change the physical structure of the brain—and whether these changes show up on scans.
A team of researchers from the AdventHealth Research Institute and the University of Pittsburgh wanted to find out. They designed a year-long clinical trial to examine whether following standard exercise guidelines could slow or even reverse something called “brain age”—a measure of how old your brain looks on an MRI compared to your actual age. The results were published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science. Let’s break down what they found.
How Was This Study Conducted?
The researchers recruited 130 healthy adults between the ages of 26 and 58 for a single-blind, 12-month randomized clinical trial. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: a moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic exercise group or a control group that was asked not to change their activity levels.
Those in the exercise group attended two supervised 60-minute workout sessions each week in a laboratory setting and added home-based exercise to reach roughly 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week. That’s the amount recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine. Participants could walk, jog or run on a treadmill, or use equipment like bikes, elliptical machines or rowers. Heart rate monitors tracked their exercise intensity throughout the study.
At the start and end of the study, researchers measured participants’ brain structure using MRI scans and assessed their cardiorespiratory fitness through a test called peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak). Using a machine learning tool called brainageR, they calculated each person’s “brain-predicted age difference,” or brain-PAD—essentially, how much older or younger the brain appeared compared to the person’s chronological age.
What Did the Study Find?
After 12 months, clear differences emerged between the two groups. Participants in the exercise group showed a measurable decrease in brain age—their brains looked about 0.6 years younger at the end of the study compared to the beginning. Meanwhile, the control group showed a slight increase in brain age (about 0.35 years older), though this change wasn’t statistically significant.
When the researchers compared the two groups directly, the gap was close to one full year in favor of the exercise group. Unsurprisingly, the exercise group also showed significant improvements in fitness. Interestingly, the researchers also found that higher fitness levels at the start of the study were associated with younger-looking brains.
There are some important limitations to keep in mind. The study involved healthy, relatively well-educated volunteers, and the sample size was modest. The COVID-19 pandemic also affected participation, as some people had to continue exercising at home during shutdowns. Additionally, while the researchers explored potential explanations for why exercise improved brain age—including changes in fitness, body composition, blood pressure and a brain protein called BDNF—none of these factors fully explained the effect. The exact mechanism remains unknown.
How Does This Apply to Real Life?
“People often ask, ‘Is there anything I can do now to protect my brain later?’ Our findings support the idea that following current exercise guidelines—150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic activity—may help keep the brain biologically younger, even in midlife,” senior author and neuroscientist Kirk I. Erickson, Ph.D., says in a press release.
The focus on midlife is particularly important. Many studies on exercise and brain health have concentrated on older adults, after age-related changes have already become more pronounced. This study suggests that starting earlier—in your 30s, 40s and 50s—may offer greater benefits over time by giving your brain a head start against aging.
If you’re not currently meeting the 150-minute-per-week recommendation, don’t worry. You can start where you are. Try adding short walks throughout your day, taking the stairs instead of the elevator or scheduling a few sessions at the gym each week. Activities like brisk walking, cycling, swimming and dancing all count as moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise. The key is consistency: participants in this study exercised regularly for a full year to see results.
If you have any health conditions or haven’t exercised in a while, talk to your health care provider before starting a new fitness routine. They can help you create a plan that’s safe, approachable and effective for your individual needs.
Our Expert Take
A new study in the Journal of Sport and Health Science suggests that following basic aerobic exercise guidelines—150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous activity—can make your brain appear measurably younger on MRI scans. After one year, adults who exercised regularly showed brains that looked nearly a year younger than those who didn’t change their habits. While the changes were modest, researchers believe that even small shifts in brain age during midlife could add up to meaningful protection against cognitive decline later on. So if you’ve been looking for motivation to move more, consider this: your brain will thank you.
