At 91, Merceda Schmidt still volunteers as a school teacher and piano accompanist–and she often walks to her appointments, tallying up more than three miles a week.

“It’s just in my nature–the batteries I got when I was born,” says Schmidt, who lives in Calgary, Canada. “My legs want to go.”

She can probably thank those restless legs of hers for her sharp-as-a-tack mind. Schmidt recently volunteered for a study that compared active and sedentary older women, conducted by Marc Poulin, PhD, and his colleagues at the University of Calgary. Using a random sample of 42 women with an average age of 65, the team measured the volunteers’ cardiovascular health, resting brain blood flow, and cognitive function.

The active women in the group had 10 percent lower resting and exercising blood pressure, a strong defense against heart disease and stroke. They also had more vigorous circulation in their brains. And they had a 10 percent edge over their sedentary colleagues in measures of brain function.

“The take home message from our research,” said Dr. Poulin, is that basic fitness–something as simple as getting out for a walk every day–is critical to staying mentally sharp and remaining healthy as we age.”

© 2009 PDQhealth

Tags: aging, brain function, exercise