By Luis Marine

Monday Sept 3, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- There has been countless studies on the benefits from cardiovascular fitness, most though are aimed for physical fitness or aesthetic purposes like losing inches on the waistline. Aside from the physical results people seek from cardio exercise, there is another benefit humans get from their cardio workouts. Cardiovascular fitness has also been proven to not only improve cognitive function but prevent the loss of brain mass as one ages. 

In a controlled study performed in 2004 by The National Academy of Sciences using aerobic and non-aerobic participants, it observed the brain under a cognitive challenging task which resulted in "greater task-related activity in the cortical mechanisms of both prefontal and parietal cortices." Their findings also suggest that, "increased cardiovascular fitness can affect improvements in the plasticity of the aging human brain, and may serve to reduce both biological and cognitive senescence(advanced age) in humans."

The findings of that study were similar to the findings The Beckman Institute found in their study that was conducted over a six month span. Their analysis that involved 124 adults found, " those that were in the aerobic activity group showed substantial improvements in performance on tasks requiring executive control compared with anaerobically trained subjects."

These findings are encouraging for those that find they can achieve more than physical health or improve their physical appearance from exercise. Whatever the goal of an individual, science has provided promising evidence that our brain also reaps the benefits of a physically active lifestyle. As we age there are areas of the brain that reduce in size, but studies have shown cardiovascular fitness helps in some way to hinder that natural process.

According to a study in The Journal of Gerontology in 2003 using MRI scans of 55 older adults, the study determined that the area which the brain loses tissue due to age was, "substantially reduced as a function of cardiovascular fitness."

So besides the advantage of wisdom that comes along with age, the wise have the opportunity to engage in an activity that preserves one's size of the brain. As the former study suggests, there is now," a strong biological basis for the benefits of exercise on the brain health of older adults."