Your brain starts shrinking after 50. Not slowly. 1 to 2% every single year. But one specific type of exercise does not just stop it. It actually grows your brain back.
After 50 the hippocampus shrinks 1 to 2% every year. The region responsible for learning and memory. Most people accept this as inevitable. It is not.
A landmark study took sedentary adults in their 60s. The stretching group lost 1 to 2% of hippocampal volume in one year. The aerobic exercise group grew theirs by 1 to 2%.
The mechanism is lactate. Exercise produces lactate. Lactate activates BDNF in the brain. Miracle grow for your brain. It grows new neurons and strengthens existing connections.
Women with the highest cardiorespiratory fitness were 80% less likely to develop dementia than those with the lowest. And that fitness responds directly to exercise.
40% of people doing moderate exercise for two and a half hours per week get zero cardiorespiratory benefit. The exercise that grows the hippocampus is vigorous intensity. The kind where you cannot hold a conversation.
Three times per week. Thirty minutes. Vigorous intensity. Your brain is waiting for the signal. Give it the signal.
REFERENCES
Erickson, K. I., et al. (2011). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 3017 3022.
Horder, H., et al. (2018). Neurology, 90(15), e1298 e1305.
DISCLAIMER
For educational purposes only. Not medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare professional before beginning a new exercise program particularly if you have existing cardiovascular health conditions or are currently sedentary.