--- title: Walking Exercise Helps Slow the Decline of Memory description: A simple walking regimen can slow memory decline in people who already have cognitive problems, suggests a new study canonical: https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4536766/walking-exercise-memory-brain/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-19T20:00:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-02T23:16:40.478Z article:section: Health og:title: Exercise Helps Slow Down the Decline of Memory og:description: A simple walking regimen can slow memory decline in people who already have cognitive problems, suggests a new study og:url: https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4536766/walking-exercise-memory-brain/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte572fc322da99349/6988d47997cdffb0106b1745/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-32.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Exercise Helps Slow Down the Decline of Memory og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Exercise Helps Slow Down the Decline of Memory twitter:description: A simple walking regimen can slow memory decline in people who already have cognitive problems, suggests a new study twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte572fc322da99349/6988d47997cdffb0106b1745/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-32.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 19, 2016 # Exercise Helps Slow Down Memory Decline > Sponsored content. 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Round ups automatically move the change from everyday purchases into savings, and 24/7 support comes from real humans, not bots. #### What bank is built for life today? Ally is the bank built for life today, a digital-first, people-first bank. Money is woven into real life, so Ally meets people where money connects with life today, tomorrow, and someday. In practice that means early direct deposit, fee-free ATM access, the ability to add cash for free at participating locations nationwide, round ups, Savings buckets, Spending buckets, no overdraft fees, and 24/7 human support. #### What bank is best for everyday spending and saving? Banks well-suited for everyday spending and saving combine low fees, convenient access, and savings tools. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/) ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.  Bethan Mooney for TIME One of the most feared diseases among Americans is Alzheimer’s, according to surveys. It’s also one of the most mysterious. Despite some [promising developments in drugs that may one day treat or slow the development of the disease](http://time.com/4473174/most-promising-results-yet-for-alzheimers-treatment/?iid=sr-link10), there’s not yet a sound way to successfully treat it. One active area of research into dementia, however, doesn’t involve drugs at all—it involves exercise. In a small new study published in the journal [_Neurology_](http://www.neurology.org/), a walking program was shown to help elderly people who have early cognitive problems. The researchers gathered 70 people, all around age 74\. Each had a mild form of vascular cognitive impairment, the second most common cause of dementia and one that results from damage to the small vessels that feed deep into the brain, says study author Teresa Liu-Ambrose, associate professor in the department of physical therapy at the University of British Columbia in Canada. People often have vascular cognitive impairment without knowing it, Liu-Ambrose says, and when symptoms show themselves, they often affect the ability to plan or stick with a schedule. Because the condition is so covert, researchers required neuroimaging evidence of these small brain lesions for everyone in the study. The research team assigned everyone to either get aerobic [exercise](http://time.com/4474874/exercise-fitness-workouts/?xid=time%5Fsocialflow%5Ffacebook) or their usual care for six months. The exercise group walked outside three times a week, gradually ramping up their intensity. Everyone took tests, at the beginning and end of the study, measuring thinking skills, executive function, memory and competence at daily activities. Though they didn’t see a difference between the two groups in executive function, the researchers saw a modest yet significant improvement in memory in the walking group. People in that group also had better blood pressure and could walk farther and more efficiently in six minutes. When the groups were measured again six months after the study had ended, the differences between the groups vanished. “Unless you’re doing the exercise, the benefits do diminish,” Liu-Ambrose says. Exercise may be stimulating the release of proteins that directly benefit the brain. “It helps neuronal survival and growth and generally what we associate with neuroplasticity,” Liu-Ambrose says. Aerobic exercise also improves high blood pressure and other cardiometabolic risk factors, which are closely linked to the development of vascular cognitive impairment, she says. “We know it’s a very common cause of dementia, yet there are really very few treatments available for vascular cognitive impairment,” she says, adding that studies of pharmaceutical therapies in similar populations have shown comparable results to those of the current study. “Given how exercise has really minimal side effects, as compared to most pharmaceutical treatments, I think it’s a really sensible choice.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4536766/walking-exercise-memory-brain/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4536766/walking-exercise-memory-brain/"},"headline":"Exercise Helps Slow Down the Decline of Memory","datePublished":"2016-10-19T20:00:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:16:40.478Z","description":"A simple walking regimen can slow memory decline in people who already have cognitive problems, suggests a new study","url":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4536766/walking-exercise-memory-brain/","keywords":["Exercise & Fitness"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte572fc322da99349/6988d47997cdffb0106b1745/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-32.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"creator":"Mandy Oaklander","articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte572fc322da99349/6988d47997cdffb0106b1745/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-32.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/exercisefitness/","name":"Exercise & Fitness"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4536766/walking-exercise-memory-brain/","name":"Exercise Helps Slow Down the Decline of Memory"}}]}] ```