Exercise in youth may prevent dementia

A new study is the first to examine the association of physical activity at several ages across the life course with late life cognitive function.

"This research provides evidence that physical activity earlier in life may be important to reducing the risk of cognitive impairment in late life," says Dr. Laura Middleton, principal investigator of the study.

"These results not only confirm that promoting physical activity is among the most promising strategies in the prevention of dementia in old age, but also stress that health promotion interventions targeting people earlier in life may be particularly important," she adds.

While teenage physical activity was most strongly associated with lower odds of late-life cognitive impairment, those women who were inactive as teens, but became physically active later in life had a lowered risk of cognitive impairment than those who remained inactive.

Despite the large amount of research on physical activity in relation to cognition in old age, relatively few have included physical activity measures prior to mid-life; none have measured multiple time points.

Middleton adds, "Youth who are active have better cognitive and academic performance. We think it is possible that early-life physical activity – similar to early-life education – could help to build [a] ‘cognitive reserve' that has long-lasting benefits."