A study from University College London (UCL), published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, has shown that 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity and sleeping for at least six hours a night could contribute to improved cognitive performance the following day.
During the study 76 adults aged 50-83 years old, and who did not have cognitive impairment or dementia, were asked to wear an accelerometer for eight days to track their sleep and physical activity in normal life, alongside doing online cognitive tests to document their attention, memory and processing speed.
The study authors say their results reveal that increased physical activity, plus the recommended amounts of sleep, improved episodic and working memory scores the next day.
Dr Mikaela Bloomberg, an author on the study, says:
“The takeaway is just [that] physical activity is good for your brain and good sleep helps that. We all experience cognitive decline as we get older, it’s a normal part of ageing. So that’s the age group where we start to think: what are these little things we can do on a day-to-day basis to improve our cognitive function and our independence and social participation?”
You can read the study here: https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-024-01683-7