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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nDoes your brain health need a boost?<\/p>\n
Just going for a walk is enough to help improve cognitive performance and reduce the risk of dementia, according to experts.<\/p>\n
Getting in a few thousand steps a day has been shown to slow cognitive decline in older adults who are at risk of developing Alzheimer\u2019s disease, the most common form of dementia.<\/p>\n
While cognitive decline was delayed by three years for people who walked between 3,000 and 5,000 steps a day, that delay jumped to seven years for people who walked between 5,000 and 7,000 steps each day, Mass General Brigham researchers said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLifestyle factors appear to impact the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease, suggesting that lifestyle changes may slow the emergence of cognitive symptoms if we act early,\u201d Dr. Jasmeer Chhatwal, of the facility\u2019s neurology department, explained in a statement.<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Experts say regularly practicing this simple activity could help people stave off cognitive decline for years longer than others (Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nA 2022 study from the University of Rochester Medical Center showed walking while completing a cognitive test improved their performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the naked eye, there were no differences in our participants. It wasn\u2019t until we started analyzing their behavior and brain activity that we found the surprising difference in the group’s neural signature and what makes them handle complex dual-tasking processes differently,\u201d Eleni Patelaki, a biomedical engineering Ph.D. student, said in a release.<\/p>\n
Other researchers have found that walking contributes to changes in the brain, producing a protein that helps to grow new nerve cells and strengthening connections between different regions of the brain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe brain activity was stronger and more synchronized, demonstrating exercise actually can induce the brain\u2019s ability to change and adapt,\u201d J. Carson Smith, a kinesiology professor with the University of Maryland School of Public Health, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Raised heart rate while walking helps to increase blood flow to the brain (Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAnd, more recent findings from Michigan State University show just five minutes of brisk walking is enough to improve cognition – partly because walking helps raise your heart rate which increases the flow of blood to the brain. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s good for the body is usually good for the brain,\u201d Dr. Amit Sachdev, the medical director in the school\u2019s neurology department said.<\/p>\n
Although, it may take a while for those benefits to kick in. <\/p>\n
Several studies have shown that the benefits largely occur after around six months of moderate intensity walking, according to Harvard Medical School.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that U.S. adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week for the greatest positive impacts to their health.<\/p>\n
And, it may not even matter which direction you\u2019re heading.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral studies have found that when someone walks backward, activity in the prefrontal cortex increases. That is the region of the brain associated with problem-solving, logic and making decisions,\u201d doctors at UCLA Health said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn one particularly intriguing study, participants who simply visualized the act of walking backward, but were actually sitting still, improved their scores on a memory test.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Does your brain health need a boost? Just going for a walk is enough to help improve cognitive performance and reduce the risk of dementia, according to experts. Getting in a few thousand steps a day has been shown to slow cognitive decline in older adults who are at risk of developing Alzheimer\u2019s disease, the most common form of dementia. While cognitive decline was delayed by three years for people who walked between 3,000 and 5,000 steps a day, that delay jumped to seven years for people who walked between 5,000 and 7,000 steps each day, Mass General Brigham researchers said. \u201cLifestyle factors appear to impact the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease, suggesting that lifestyle changes may slow the emergence of cognitive symptoms if we act early,\u201d Dr. Jasmeer Chhatwal, of the facility\u2019s neurology department, explained in a statement. open image in gallery Experts say regularly practicing this simple activity could help people stave off cognitive decline for years longer than others (Getty Images) A 2022 st…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}