A year of cardio may make the brain look younger on MRI

In a 12‑month trial of 130 healthy adults aged 26–58, those who followed guideline-based aerobic exercise (about 150 minutes/week with two supervised 60‑minute sessions) showed a brain-age reduction (brain-PAD) of ~0.6 years, while the control group increased by ~0.35 years. The group difference was nearly one year, suggesting regular aerobic activity could biologically slow midlife brain aging, though the exact mechanisms remain unclear and broader applicability needs larger, longer studies.