Physical Activity Linked to Slower Cognitive Decline in Seniors

TUESDAY, Nov. 4, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For cognitively unimpaired older adults with elevated baseline amyloid, higher physical activity is associated with slower cognitive and functional decline, according to a study published online Nov. 3 in Nature Medicine.

Wai-Ying Wendy Yau, M.D., from Mass General Brigham in Boston, and colleagues examined the association between physical inactivity and progression of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology in humans using pedometer-measured step counts in cognitively unimpaired older adults.

The researchers found that in individuals with elevated baseline amyloid, there was an association between higher physical activity and slower cognitive and functional decline. This association was not related to lower amyloid burden at baseline or longitudinally. There was an association for higher physical activity with slower amyloid-related inferior temporal tau accumulation, mediating the association with slower cognitive decline. A curvilinear relationship was observed in dose-response analyses, with the associations with slower tau accumulation and cognitive decline reaching a plateau at moderate levels of physical activity (5,001 to 7,500 steps/day).

“Our findings support targeting physical inactivity as a strategy in future randomized clinical trials to modify the trajectory of tau and cognition in preclinical AD, and potentially provide an easily understood and more attainable physical activity goal for older sedentary individuals at high risk of cognitive decline,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text