Cardiovascular exercise can offer protection from cognitive impairment due to aging. In a new study, led by researchers at the University of Montreal and the affiliated Institut universitaire de gératrie de Montréal Research Centre, cognitive health is connected with cognitive changes in aging.

The study’s first author, Claudine Gauthier, said in a statement, “Our body’s arteries stiffen with age, and the vessel hardening is believed to begin in the aorta, the main vessel coming out of the heart, before reaching the brain. Indeed, the hardening may contribute to cognitive changes that occur during a similar time frame.” She continued, “We found that older adults whose aortas were in a better condition and who had greater aerobic fitness performed better on a cognitive test. We therefore think that the preservation of vessel elasticity may be one of the mechanisms that enables exercise to slow cognitive aging.”

The study included 31 participants between the ages of 18 and 30, along with participants between the ages of 55 and 75. The research team compared the older participants in their peer group against the younger group that had not yet started the aging process in question. Participants were free from mental and physical health issues that could possibly change the study outcome. For the test, the patients were exhausted on a workout machine while their maximum oxygen intake was determined over a 30 second period.

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends 60 minutes of physical activity each day for children ages six to 17 and 30 minutes per day for adults ages 18 to 64.