Exercise and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI): Strengthen Your Body, Relax Your Mind

Here’s what you should know about the mood and cognitive benefits of physical activity, and how to get started with an exercise program if you have mild cognitive impairment.

Exercise and movement can help with your mood and cognition in a variety of ways.

“Exercise, in general, is beneficial for sustained attention and ability to focus,” says Jacqueline A. Palmer, DPT, PhD, the principal investigator at the Brains in Motion Lab at the University of Minnesota. “Typically, the research is on aerobic exercise, but we think that strength training is also beneficial.”

Certain forms of exercise that demand sustained focus, such as tai chi, can also be especially beneficial for brain health in older adults, says Daniel Callow, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore.

Dr. Callow also notes that physical activity is linked to better sleep, which can improve both mood and memory in older adults. “Individuals who have poor sleep may benefit the most from being more active,” he says.

An important way that exercise may improve your mood, thinking, and overall health is by reducing inflammation throughout your body — a heightened state of your immune system that can cause damage to cells over time — says Carol Sames, PhD, an exercise physiologist and an associate professor of physical therapy at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York.

Chronic inflammation “impacts the way neurons work and communicate, and can cause death to these brain cells,” says Dr. Sames. “If you’re active and exercising, muscles release molecules that can reduce and stabilize this inflammation.”

Many of the benefits of exercise — in the areas of mood, cognition, and sleep — are likely interrelated, Callow says. For example, physical activity could make you feel better because of substances released by your muscles that reach your brain, but you may also feel more capable and have a better mood if your physical function is better.

When you’re engaging in a new form of physical activity, “it’s okay to start small,” says Callow. “Any type of improvement, being less sedentary, may provide some benefits.”

While more vigorous forms of exercise could provide additional benefits, getting regular moderate physical activity has also been linked to a lower risk of developing dementia and may provide cognitive benefits for older adults, says Sames.

Sticking with an activity program is crucial to reaping the benefits, Palmer emphasizes. “It’s not necessarily what you do, but how consistently you can maintain your physical activity,” she says, “Find what you actually enjoy, because that’s something you’re going to go back to do.”

Before starting any new exercise program — especially if you have chronic health conditions like cardiovascular disease or diabetes — “I think the first step is to have a candid conversation with your physician,” says Sames. In some cases, you may benefit from the guidance of an exercise physiologist or physical therapist.

Aerobic Exercise

While the strongest evidence of cognitive benefits from exercise involves aerobic exercise, that may be largely because so many studies have focused on this category of activity, says Palmer.

Strength Training

“As we get older, we start to lose muscle mass,” says Sames. “So strength training becomes more important, and underlies the ability to exercise aerobically,” since you need strong muscles to engage in those activities. Strength can also help improve balance and reduce the risk of falling, Sames adds.

Flexibility Training

Sometimes simply called stretching, flexibility training involves stretching your muscles to increase your range of motion. This can help you do other exercises, or engage in everyday activities, with greater ease.

Power Training

“Power is needed to walk, get out of a chair, and climb stairs, and essential to living independently,” says Sames. “Older adults lose fast-twitch muscle cells rapidly with increasing age,” she explains, making power training important.

Whenever you do vigorous physical activity, it’s important to get your body ready first through low-intensity aerobic activity, also known as warming up.

Warming up helps widen your blood vessels and makes sure your muscles are getting the oxygen they need for more vigorous activity. It also raises the temperature of your muscles, which tends to make them more flexible.

Depending on where you live, there may be several community resources for older adults looking to get started with a program of physical activity.

An added benefit of attending exercise classes may be the social interaction it offers. “I think the social component of exercise is really nice for older adults,” says Palmer. And you shouldn’t worry about keeping up with other participants, especially if a class is targeted toward older adults. “Usually at those gyms with older-adult fitness classes, they’re a little less intimidating,” Palmer says.

• Exercise can be an effective way for people with mild cognitive impairment to reduce stress, and it may also help preserve brain health and function as part of a larger plan.
• Consistency in physical activity, rather than the specific type of exercise, is key to gaining sustainable benefits.
• If you're starting a new exercise program, especially if you have existing health conditions, it’s important to have a conversation with your healthcare provider to ensure it’s safe and beneficial for you.