Aging

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Higher aerobic fitness levels linked to fewer word failures in older adults
  • A small study found that aerobic fitness was linked to the frequency of tip-of-the-tongue occurrences in older adults.

A small UK study involving 28 healthy older adults (20 women with average age 70; 8 men with average age 67), has found that those with higher levels of aerobic fitness experienced fewer language failures such as 'tip-of-the-tongue' states.
Better physical fitness and lower aortic stiffness key to slower brain aging
  • A study found that physical fitness & arterial stiffness accounted for a third of the cognitive differences between older adults, completely erasing age as a factor.

An Australian study involving 102 older adults (60-90) has concluded that physical fitness and arterial stiffness account for a great deal of age-related memory decline.
Moving more in old age may protect brain from dementia
  • A long-running study found older adults who moved more were less likely to develop dementia, even when they had brain pathologies characteristic of dementia.

A long-running study involving 454 older adults who were given physical exams and cognitive tests every year for 20 years has found that those who moved more than average maintained more of their cognitive skills than people who were less active than average, even if they have brain lesions or b
Physical activity linked to better brain health & cognition in older adults
  • A study found that older adults remembered names better after moderately intense exercise.
  • A large, long-running study found that each hour of light physical activity per week was linked to less brain atrophy.
  • Similarly, another long-running study reported that higher levels of lifestyle physical activity were associated with less brain atrophy.

Exercise activates brain networks in older adults

A study involving healthy older adults (55-85) found that recall was better after a session of moderately intense exercise, and several crucial brain regions showed greater activation.
Higher blood pressure linked to greater brain damage in older adults
  • A clinical trial found that hypertensive older adults who took medication to keep their systolic blood pressure around 130 showed markedly fewer white matter lesions than those maintaining a level of 145.
  • A large, long-running study found that higher blood pressiure was linked to more brain lesions and more tau tangles.
  • A long-running study found that both higher amyloid-beta levels and higher vascular risk were linked to faster cognitive decline, with the factors interacting to be worse than additive.

Lowering blood pressure prevents worsening brain damage in elderly
Lymphatic vessels critical to a healthy brain
  • Lymphatic vessels surround the brain and are vital to its ability to manage waste.
  • A mouse study has found that improvements to the flow of waste from brain to lymph nodes dramatically improved their cognition, while obstructing the lymphatic vessels increased the level of amyloid-beta plaques.

Although first reported in 1816, the fact that the brain is surrounded by lymphatic vessels, which connect the brain and the immune system, was only rediscovered in 2015.
Absentmindedness can be an early warning sign of silent strokes
  • A small study found that older adults with white matter damage caused by silent strokes noticed poorer attention and distractability.

A study involving 54 older adults (55-80), who possessed at least one risk factor for a stroke, found that those with

Perivascular space size linked to cognitive impairment in older adults
  • Enlarged perivascular spaces have been linked to poorer processing speed and executive functioning in older adults.

Perivascular spaces are fluid-filled spaces around the cerebral small vessels, commonly seen on brain scans in older adults. They have been thought to be harmless, but a new study challenges this belief.
Major heart surgery not much worse for cognition than other heart treatments
  • A large study found that older adults experiencing heart surgery showed more long-term cognitive decline than those having a less invasive treatment, but not a great deal more.

Data from 3,105 older adults (65+) who had either heart surgery or cardiac catheterization has found that those who had heart surgery didn’t experience much greater cognitive decline compared with those who had the much less invasive, catheter-based procedure.
Multimorbidity score linked to cognitive decline
  • A very large study found that older adults with multiple health conditions showed much greater cognitive decline than those with fewer chronic conditions, even when the conditions weren't directly related to brain health.

Data from more than 14,265 people older adults (51+) multiple times over a decade or more through the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study has found that people with higher “multimorbidity scores” showed much faster cognitive decline than those with lower scores, even though most o

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