Walk to Remember

Exercise is key in maintaining a young body. And new research
suggests that walking for exercise is also related to keeping a young
mind.

In a University of California at San Francisco study, Kristine
Yaffe, M.D., an assistant psychology and neurology professor, first
measured the cognitive abilities of nearly 6,000 women ages 65 or older.
She then kept track of the women's physical activity for six to eight
years by recording the number of miles they walked each week as well as
the number of calories they burned.

Testing their cognitive abilities again, Yaffe discovered that of
the participants who walked the least, 24 percent showed a significant
decline in their test scores. But only 17 percent of the most active
women had significantly lower test scores.

Presented at the annual American Academy of Neurology meeting, the
study's findings suggest that it isn't necessary to engage in vigorous
workouts to reap the mental benefits of exercise. In fact, Yaffe also
found a "dose relationship" between walking and maintaining cognitive
ability, meaning that more exercise is great, but even a little makes a
difference.