Even brief bursts of everyday physical activity—from climbing stairs to gardening—can immediately boost brain function in middle-aged adults, making them think as quickly as someone four years their junior, a new study has found.

Stay Active to Think Faster

As we age, our cognitive processing speed—the rate at which we perform mental operations—naturally slows. This decline in mental quickness is considered a hallmark of normal aging.

However, recent research published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine in October suggests that everyday physical activity can immediately benefit brain health, particularly improvements in cognitive processing speed for middle-aged people.

Researchers at Penn State University found that routine physical activities, from low-intensity movements like household chores to more vigorous efforts like jogging, can provide immediate cognitive benefits. Study participants who were active showed mental processing speeds typical of someone four years younger.

“You don’t have to go to the gym to experience all the potential benefits of physical activity,” said Jonathan Hakun, assistant professor of neurology and psychology at Penn State and study co-author, in a press statement. “All movement is important. Everyday movement counts as a source of accumulated physical activity that could be credited toward a healthy lifestyle and may have some direct impact on cognitive health.”

Cognitive Benefits Occur Quickly

To investigate the short-term effects of physical activity on cognitive health, the research team used a method called ecological momentary assessment (EMA), which captures data about people’s behaviors in their natural environments.

The study followed 204 participants aged 40 to 65 from the Bronx, New York, with no history of cognitive impairment. The participant pool included nearly 50 percent black or African American participants and 34 percent Hispanic participants.

Participants logged their activities six times daily over nine days, completing cognitive tasks after reporting their physical movement levels.

The research found several patterns:

• Physical activity within the previous 3.5 hours led to improved processing speed.
• While working memory itself didn’t improve, response times in memory tasks showed enhancement.
• More frequent activity corresponded to greater cognitive benefits.

“We get slower as we age, both physically and cognitively,” Hakun stated. “The idea here is that we can momentarily counteract that through movement. It’s compelling.”

Participants who were active more frequently experienced greater cognitive benefits than those who were less active. This suggests regular physical activity may correlate with increasing cognitive health benefits, though further investigation is needed into how frequency and timing of physical activity affect cognitive health, Hakun noted.

“These findings suggest that everyday physical activity may promote cognitive health in midlife and that the benefits may be enjoyed immediately,” the researchers wrote.

Hakun and his team plan to expand their research by integrating activity-monitoring tools with their assessment methods and gathering long-term data to compare everyday activity’s effects against normal aging patterns.