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There’s little debate that regular aerobic exercise strengthens major muscles like the legs and, more important, the heart. Now new research suggests that exercise not only does the body good, but the brain as well. A new University of Florida study shows that lifelong exercise in rats protects against cellular aging in the brain. Researchers studied two groups of lab rats… older animals whose cages were outfitted with exercise wheels, and rats that didn’t work out. The study showed that regular exercise slowed the brain aging process in the older animals. After two years, the brain cells of the older, exercising rats looked like those of younger, six-month-old animals.

Dr. Tom Foster / UF neuroscientist

“These animals are not forced to run on a treadmill or anything like that, they’re engaged in this activity voluntarily. It’s entertaining to them and so maybe this could translate to humans as a walk around the block every evening after your meal or maybe a 1-mile run.”

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U-F scientists say the benefits of a daily workout likely translate to people: regular exercise may stave off the cognitive decline associated with normal aging and neurodegenerative diseases.

Reactive oxygen molecules in the brain called free radicals are thought to contribute to brain aging and memory loss… but exercise, even later in life, has an antioxidant effect that counteracts this stress to the cells.

Dr. Tom Foster / UF neuroscientist

“Whatever’s good for the heart is good for the brain. So certainly nutrition and exercise are important, and so if you condition your heart, you’re changing your heart in a way that it can fight oxidative stress and whatever you’re doing, those same mechanisms are also engaged in the brain.”

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At the University of Florida Health Science Center…I’m Mike Garrison