N<\/span>early everyone experiences memory or thinking problems as they age, as it\u2019s a seemingly inevitable element of the aging process. You can think of it as the \u201ccreaky knees\u201d of mental health; sometimes, we simply feel our age, no matter how healthy our lifestyle is or what preventive measures we take.<\/p>\n That said, there are ways to stem that tide\u2014to preserve memory, cognition, and overall mental health\u2014including physical activity, which has become an increasing focus of research in recent years, and for good reason. There are a number of psychological benefits<\/a> associated with regular physical activity. The immediate benefits\u2014those seen with a single bout of exercise\u2014include reduced feelings of short-term anxiety, improved sleep, and improved cognitive function.<\/p>\n More long-term effects\u2014that is, the benefits seen with regular participation in a physical-activity program\u2014include decreased depressive symptoms, reduced long-term anxiety, improvements in various aspects of sleep (for example, quality, efficiency, deep sleep, reduced daytime sleepiness, and reduced frequency of the use of medication to aid sleep), improved cognition (for example, memory, attention, executive function, processing speed, and the ability to retrieve and use information) and enhanced quality of life.<\/p>\n All of this probably comes as little surprise, as the connection between physical and mental health is well established. Stated simply, exercise is good for you in almost every way imaginable, including several direct positive impacts on mental health.<\/p>\n Importantly, it\u2019s never too late to start when it comes to improving your mental health through physical activity. In a review of research conducted on physical activity and successful aging<\/a>, it was found, perhaps predictably, that physically active middle-aged and older adults were more likely to age successfully than their less active counterparts. While the effect was stronger among the younger study participants, the protective effect of physical activity declined annually by only 3%.<\/p>\n Recent research conducted as part of the larger Exercise in Adults with Mild Memory Problems (EXERT) study<\/a>, found that low-intensity movements, such as stretching, balance exercise, and very light strength-training exercise, were enough to halt cognitive decline<\/a> in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. All it took was 45 to 50 minutes of movement three or four times per week.<\/p>\n Physical activity has also been shown to not only improve the quality of life<\/a> for individuals with cognitive impairment, dementia, Alzheimer\u2019s disease, and dementia but also slow the progression of those diseases. Importantly, physical activity is a low- or no-cost way to treat and prevent age-related declines in mental health.<\/p>\n Finally, researchers who investigated the roles of nutrition, physical activity, and other lifestyle factors in the prevention of cognitive decline and dementia<\/a> concluded that there is compelling evidence that physical activity when coupled with healthy nutrition and an overall healthy lifestyle, plays an important role in the maintenance of cognitive health and the prevention of cognitive decline. In fact, they write, \u201cIt is credible that this must be the path to travel.\u201d<\/p>\n While the effects of exercise on mental health are well established, it remains unclear which exercise-related variables produce these beneficial effects.<\/p>\n In one study, researchers examined the extent to which four exercise variables\u2014exercise behavior, exercise-induced mood, exercise self-efficacy, and social support\u2014can predict depression symptoms<\/a> in older adults. They found that all four variables were negatively associated with depressive symptoms. In other words, the more exercise people performed, the better their mood and self-efficacy became, and the better their support system, the more improvement they saw in their symptoms.<\/p>\n Research into how physical activity impacts cognitive health<\/a> reveals a few important findings. For example, improvements in physical activity may enhance the brain\u2019s ability to adapt due to experience (this is called brain plasticity). In addition, regular physical activity and managing cardiovascular risk factors, like diabetes, obesity, smoking, and hypertension, have been found to help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and may reduce the risk of dementia.<\/p>\n Cardiorespiratory exercise was found to improve memory and learning while lowering anxiety and depression. Lastly, when it comes to resistance training, emerging evidence<\/a> suggests that it can improve executive function and memory and promote positive structural changes in the brain.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important that we also view physical activity in a positive sense, not simply as a means of avoiding negative outcomes in our lives. Remember the last of the long-term benefits mentioned above? Physical activity is not simply about preventing disease or reducing symptoms; it\u2019s also about enhancing the quality of life and living longer, better, more fulfilling, and happier lives.<\/p>\n However, physical activity alone is not enough, as a healthy lifestyle<\/a> involves a number of behaviors that all older adults can incorporate into their daily lives. In addition to performing regular physical activity, pursuing intellectually stimulating activities, staying socially active, adopting a positive attitude, effectively managing stress, eating healthy, and sleeping well are all part of aging well.<\/p>\n Physical activity provides countless benefits as we age\u2014to both mind and body. So, find an activity you enjoy and get moving. All it takes is 45 minutes or so, three or four days a week, and you will be on the path to a happier and healthier life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ways to preserve memory, cognition, and overall mental health<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13791,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[170,172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-summer-2023","category-spring-summer-2023-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13733"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14029,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13733\/revisions\/14029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What the Research Reveals<\/h3>\n
How Exercise Impacts the Brain<\/h3>\n
Psychological Well-being<\/h3>\n
Sabrena Jo<\/a>, Ph.D., is an ACE-certified<\/a> group fitness instructor, personal trainer, and health coach. She has a bachelor\u2019s degree in exercise science and a master\u2019s in physical education\/biomechanics from the University of Kansas.<\/h5>\n