TAKE YOUR BRAIN FOR A WALK

There are plenty of benefits to walking—cardiac health, relaxation, elevated mood—but a UBC researcher has shown that walking can also help ward o cognitive decline in people at risk of dementia. In one study, associate professor of physical therapy Teresa LiuAmbrose had 71 participants aged 56 to 96—all with cognitive impairment from damage to tiny blood vessels in their brains—walk three times per week, gradually increasing their intensity. Others did not follow the exercise program but kept with their usual routines. Among the walkers, they found significant improvement in memory and cognitive function; in other words, they could help stave o the cognitive declines associated with dementia. But they had to keep up the pace: six months after the study, those who had stopped walking saw the benefits diminish. “The head and the body are connected,” says Liu-Ambrose. “And exercise truly is the magic pill.”—