Staying Active

An Active Lifestyle May Lead to Better Brain Aging

For some people, growing older can mean a gradual decline in activities and social connections. But new research conducted by the UAB Center for Aging supports the idea that living an active lifestyle in your golden years may help you preserve mental function as you age.

“Earlier research has found that older mice show better brain aging if they have engaged in more physical and mentally stimulating activity,” explains UAB psychologist and Center for Aging researcher Michael Crowe, PhD. “We bridged this research to humans by looking at the relationship between an indicator of activity levels among older adults and later changes in their cognitive function.”

As part of the study, Dr. Crowe and his colleagues at the UAB Center for Aging evaluated a measure of activity level — life-space mobility — in 624 older adults. “In our study, life-space mobility is the area through which someone moves within a certain period of time,” explains Dr. Crowe. “We evaluated the older adults in the study according to five levels of life-space mobility, ranging from leaving the bedroom to traveling out of town.”

The study found that older adults with the highest levels of life-space mobility had a 50% lower risk of significant cognitive decline over a 4-year period compared to those at the lowest levels. In the study, a cognitive screening test measured areas such as memory, orientation, and attention.

“In general, the higher the level of life-space mobility that someone has, the more complex their life experiences may be,” observes Dr. Crowe. “And more diversity of experiences means greater demands on decision-making skills.”

Dr. Crowe explains that because people with cognitive problems also tend to restrict activities, further research will focus on how cognitive function might influence life-space mobility. “But we can say for now that our research gives further evidence that a more active lifestyle — one that involves greater everyday demands — could be good for cognitive aging.”