Regular Physical Activity at Any Time in Life Improves Late Life Brain Health
Researchers here look at epidemiological data on physical activity and brain function in old age. While the presence of any period of life in which physical activity was a regular occurrence correlates with improved late life brain health, the best option is to remain active throughout life. When it comes to established human data, the effects of exercise and calorie restriction remain the bar to beat for any attempt to improve healthspan and longevity across a broad population of varied individuals. We might hope that at least the use of senolytics to clear senescent cells will improve on this, as well as some of the following biotechnologies aimed at other fundamental mechanisms of aging.
Using data from the population-based 1946 British birth cohort, which has followed people born in the same week of 1946, previous studies have demonstrated beneficial effects of midlife physical activity on midlife verbal memory and search speed decline. Here, we extend this work by taking a life course approach to evaluate the effects of physical activity timing, frequency and maintenance, spanning over 30 years, with later-life cognitive function. We assess three measures of later-life cognitive function including a measure of cognitive state, verbal memory, and processing speed. We further aim to investigate to what extent, these effects are explained by pathways including earlier-life influences, cardiovascular health, and mental health.
To investigate the effect of timing of physical activity, we investigated the strength of associations between a range of cognitive tests at age 69 with participation in physical activity at the ages of 36, 43, 53, 60 and 69. We then investigated whether any associations observed are best explained by physical activity in specific 'sensitive' periods across the life course, or being physically active across multiple time periods.
Being physically active, at all assessments in adulthood, was associated with higher cognition at age 69. For cognitive state and verbal memory, the effect sizes were similar across all adult ages, and between those who were moderately and most physically active. The strongest association was between sustained cumulative physical activity and later-life cognitive state, in a dose-response manner. Thus being physically active at any time in adulthood, and to any extent, is linked with higher later-life cognitive state, but lifelong maintenance of physical activity was most optimal.