Recent research indicates that aerobic exercise boost brainpower even in older adults.
This was revealed in a randomized controlled trials conducted in the United States, France and Sweden, involving 670 adults age 55 and over.
The researchers at the University of Applied Sciences, in Utrecht, the Netherlands, found participation in aerobic exercise programmes increase respiratory endurance by 14 percent and improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness brings improvements in cognitive function of the brain.
The noticeable enhancement in cognition as a result of improvements in cardiovascular fitness results due to improvements in cerebral blood flow, leading to increased brain metabolism which, in turn, stimulates the production of neurotransmitters and formation of new synapses.
At the same time, improved cardiovascular fitness brings about a decline in cardiovascular disease.