Feeling winded after a flight of stairs? It could be a sign of not only inadequate cardiovascular fitness but also a drop in brain fitness as well.

Researchers at Brigham Young University in Utah reported this week that cognitive functions such as learning and memory decrease as physical fitness levels decrease. They used a metric of modifiable health behaviors and factors developed by the American Heart Association called “Life’s Simple 7” to examine whether physically fit people have lower cognitive or brain function difficulties.

The report, published on Wednesday online in the Journal of the American Heart Association, describes the study in detail and the finding that intermediate and high cardiovascular health (CVH) both associated with lower incidence or occurrence of cognitive impairment. There was not a gradual decrease in incidence but a similarly lower risk for both medium and high CVH compared with low CVH. This means that an individual may need only to achieve moderate CVH through physical activity and healthy diet to lower his or her risk of cognitive impairment.

“Even when ideal cardiovascular health is not achieved intermediate levels of cardiovascular health are preferable to low levels for better cognitive function,” Dr. Evan L. Thacker, assistant professor and chronic disease epidemiologist, said in a statement. “This is an encouraging message because intermediate cardiovascular health is a more realistic target for many individuals than ideal cardiovascular health.”

Thacker and coworkers studied over 17,700 subjects in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort study. They classified scores from the Simple 7 assessments as low, intermediate, and high CVH and then assessed cognitive function by testing on verbal learning, memory, and fluency. Cognitive impairment was found in 4.6 percent of the low CVH scorers, 2.7 percent in the intermediate scorers, and 2.6 percent in the high scorers.

The results suggest a fit body, even moderately so, may actually help maintain a fit mind, but the reason mental fitness may be linked to physical fitness is still unknown.