Early Memory Problems: Every Type of Exercise Beat Doing Nothing
Graded Moderate — an analysis of 55 trials with 4,603 people where chance decided who trained; the programs varied widely and not all trials were free of design weaknesses.
- Design
- Meta-analysis
- Participants
- 4,603
- Duration
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- Funding
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In people with mild cognitive impairment, every type of exercise studied did better for overall thinking than no training.
Mild cognitive impairment is a stage between normal aging and dementia. People who have it are more likely to develop dementia later. A large analysis now finds that every type of exercise studied did better than no training for overall thinking ability. But a different kind of exercise came out on top for each mental skill.
The researchers pooled 55 studies with 4,603 people, most of them aged about 60 to 85. In every study, chance decided who trained. Six forms were compared: aerobic, strength, dance, aerobic plus strength, mixed programs with several parts, and gentle mind-body practices such as Tai Chi or Qigong. Mixed programs ranked highest for overall thinking. Tai Chi and similar practices ranked highest for memory. Strength training ranked highest for planning and switching between tasks.
Mixed programs at moderate effort, done at least five times a week, were linked to larger gains. That finding comes from comparing different studies, so the authors call it exploratory. Only 21 studies looked at memory and 15 at planning, and not all were free of weaknesses. Whether exercise delays dementia was not tested.
Disclaimer: Research summaries are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health routine.