10/23/2025

Study Finds Mental Exercise Can Reverse a Brain Change Linked to Aging

While the change is not huge, it is significant

Scientists are reporting the first compelling evidence in people that cognitive training can boost levels of a brain chemical that typically declines with age.

A 10-week study of people 65 or older found that doing rigorous mental exercises for 30 minutes a day increased levels of the chemical messenger acetylcholine by 2.3 percent in a brain area involved in attention and memory.

The increase "is not huge," says Étienne de Villers-Sidani, a neurologist at McGill University in Montreal. "But it's significant, considering that you get a 2.5 percent decrease per decade normally just with aging."

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