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Aerobic Fitness Reduces Brain Tissue Loss in Aging Humans

"Background: The human brain gradually loses tissue from the third decade of life onward, with [attendant] declines in cognitive [rationality, or awareness] performance. Given the projected rapid growth in aged populations, and the staggering costs associated with geriatric care, identifying mechanisms that may reduce or reverse [mental] deterioration is rapidly emerging as an important public health goal...We examined the relationship between aerobic fitness and...brain tissue density in an older adult population...

"Results: Consistent with previous studies of aging and brain volume, we found robust declines in tissue densities as a function of age [in various brain sectors]. More importantly, we found that losses in these areas were substantially reduced as a function of cardiovascular fitness..."

"Conclusions: These findings extend the scope of beneficial effects of aerobic exercise beyond cardiovascular health, and they suggest a strong solid biological basis for the benefits of exercise on the brain health of older adults."

In: The Journals of Gerontology, Series A, vol. 58, 2003. By: Colcombe, Erickson, Raz, Kramer, et al., Beckman Inst., U. of Illinois, Urbana, and Inst. of Gerontology, Wayne State U., Detroit, Michigan.