Regular exercise can give you the brain power of someone a decade younger, a study found.
Just six months of aerobic exercise helped 40-year-olds achieve the thinking skills of a 30-year-old.
Researchers found they had better ‘executive function’ – cognitive skills which help people focus. For people aged 60, this exercise regime helped to reach the thinking skills of someone 20 years their junior.
Researchers led by Columbia University asked 132 people aged 20 to 67 to do four short workouts a week for six months, either aerobic exercise or stretching and toning. Those on aerobic exercise performed better in cognitive tests, while scans showed more grey matter in the thinking part of their brain.
The study, published in journal Neurology, even showed an improvement in those in their 20s.
By Victoria Allen
