It is more difficult for the elderly to exercise than young people. However, a large number of studies have shown that regular exercise is very beneficial – it is not only good for health, enhance physical fitness, but also can improve the thinking ability of the elderly. So, how does regular exercise affect the thinking ability and memory of the elderly? To explore this issue, researchers at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami surveyed a large number of studies on related topics.
Researchers selected studies that matched the thinking and memory of older people who had been exercising continuously for at least one month and those who did not exercise. In total, they selected 98 criteria-compliant studies, involving a total of 11,061 senior citizens with an average age of 73 years. Most participants (58%) had no habit of exercising regularly before the study began. 59% of participants were in good health, 26% had mild cognitive impairment, and 15% had dementia. The researchers analyzed various factors such as the duration of a single exercise, the frequency of exercise, and the total exercise time. Among them, aerobic exercise is the most common form of exercise, including walking, cycling, dancing and so on.
The results of the analysis show that the thinking ability of exercisers has improved. However, what is interesting is that the amount of exercise per week does not affect thinking ability, and total exercise time and duration of single exercise are important influencing factors. The thinking ability of people with a total exercise time of 52 hours and a single exercise duration of about 1 hour has improved; the thinking ability of people with a total exercise time of no more than 34 hours has not been improved. It seems that for the elderly, if we want to improve our thinking ability, we must continue to exercise for a long time.
Researcher Joyce Gomes-Osman said:
These analysis results show that perhaps only long-term exercise can enhance the ability to think. What makes us excited is that even low-intensity exercise programs can improve thinking skills. Not everyone has perseverance or motivation for moderate-intensity exercise programs, but everyone can benefit from even low-intensity exercise.
Both healthy and cognitively impaired people can benefit from long-term exercise. Their brain processing speed has improved and they can shorten the time to complete the intellectual task. Long-term exercise can help healthy people manage time, focus and achieve goals.
Unfortunately, there is no connection between exercise and memory.
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