Longevity & Aging12 Months of Aerobic Exercise Makes Your Brain Measurably Younger
A 12-month randomized clinical trial of 130 adults (ages 26–58) found that moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise significantly reduced brain-predicted age difference (brain-PAD) — a machine-learning biomarker of how 'old' a brain appears relative to chronological age. The exercise group showed a mean decrease in brain-PAD of 0.60 years, while the control group increased by 0.35 years, yielding a statistically significant between-group difference of nearly 1 year. Higher cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2peak) also independently predicted younger brain age at baseline. Notably, proposed biological mediators — including fitness gains, body composition, blood pressure, and BDNF — did not statistically explain the effect, leaving the precise mechanism unresolved.
