Minor changes in activity that may protect your brain from age-related decline.

Beginning a brand-new routine can be daunting at first. Trying to find joy in what you are doing, trying to stack new habits with old ones you already do consistently, and, perhaps most importantly, starting slow and small can all help.

The final one is highly helpful if you're attempting to get back into shape after a prolonged period of inactivity. It's a popular misunderstanding that you need to work out a lot to see results, although in reality, it all varies depending on your goals. Yes, you will need to put in the miles if you intend to run ultramarathons. If keeping your mind sharp is a big motivator for you to get moving, latest research into the neuroprotective effects of exercise suggests that even small amount of physical activity can help protect against neurodegeneration.

Researchers at the German Center of Neurodegenerative Diseases examined the brain volumes of 2,550 people ages 30 to 94 and discovered that certain areas of the brain, including the hippocampus (control center for memory), were larger in those who exercised. "Larger brain volumes provide better protection against neurodegeneration than smaller ones," says neuroscientist Fabienne Fox, PhD, and lead author of the current study.

Researchers discovered the greatest increase in brain volume between inactive people and those who were moderately active, implying that doing some physical activity versus none could have significant neuroprotective effects. Those benefits are not as noticeable in people who are already fairly active and simply increase their exercise amounts—which means that if you are already active, more movement is not really necessary.

"We intuitively understand this," says Barry Gordon, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and director of Johns Hopkins Medicine's Cognitive Neurology/Neuropsychology Division. "If someone who runs the length of Central Park several times per day adds another Central Park run, they won't get the same incremental benefits as someone who starts out never moving and then walks the length of Central Park."

They would not have to go that far to see brain improvements. "Our findings suggest that even small behavioral changes, such as walking 15 minutes per day, can have a significant positive effect on the brain and potentially counteract age-related loss of brain matter and the development of neurodegenerative diseases," said Dr. Fox.

What scientists know and don't know about exercise and brain health

Dr. Gordon stressed the importance of understanding the distinction between correlation and causation. So, for example, in this study, they discovered a link between larger brain volumes and people who exercise, but they did not prove that exercise alone caused people's brains to grow larger.

In general, scientists believe that exercise protects the brain from neurodegeneration, but they lack evidence and a clear understanding of how it works. "The relationship between sedentary lifestyle and neurodegeneration is still unknown," says Arjun V. Masurkar, MD, PhD, clinical core director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at NYU Langone.

According to Dr. Gordon, this is due in part to the fact that testing the neuroprotective effects of exercise would take decades. "Because that's how long it takes for neurodegeneration to have its effects," he explains. Therefore, he recommends taking steps to improve brain health in your 30s and 40s, well before you might notice signs of it in your 60s or later.

"Research suggests that exercise, particularly aerobic exercise, is directly healthy for the brain by increasing blood flow to the brain and stimulating biochemical pathways that maintain the functional and structural integrity of neurons," Dr. Masurkar says. "While it is unknown how exactly this occurs, some research suggests that aerobic exercise can initiate the release of growth factors that could potentially increase brain volume."

Dr. Gordon likens exercise to SPF (Sun Protection Factor) for your brain. "We all know that as we get older, our skin starts to show signs of aging," he says. "But it's also known that sun causes additional damage, so if you look at someone who's both older and been out in the sun a lot without sunscreen, they have more damage than someone who had the same genetic background, the same age, but stayed out of the sun religiously, or put on, you know, 400 layers of SPF."

When it comes to cognitive decline, the same can potentially be said for someone who is older and has been physically active on a regular basis versus someone who has not. "You can think of Alzheimer's disease, for example, as a combination of changes caused by aging that you can't currently control and changes caused by damage that you might be able to control," Dr. Gordon says.

Simple movement changes to implement now for improved brain function in the future

At this point, there is a strong enough correlation between brain health and exercise—and a large enough body of research to back it up—that neurologists do recommend physical activity as a way to protect your brain from neurodegeneration. Dr. Gordon also claims to do aerobic exercise three times per week for this very reason.

If you do not have time in your schedule to exercise, he and Dr. Masurkar share some simple ways to incorporate more movement into your daily life for better brain health below. "Because people are so busy and exercise-averse, one simple way is to make an existing day-to-day task more active," Dr. Masurkar says. To that end, here are some simple changes you can make right away.

1 Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs.

2 Every 30 minutes, get up for a short walk break while sitting at your computer.

3 Ride your bike instead of taking the bus or driving to run a local errand.

4 Instead of sitting at your desk, take long phone calls while walking or riding an exercise bike.

5 Instead of looking for the closest parking spot, park farther away so you have a longer walk.

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