Your brain’s memory center can grow after 60. Here’s what a year of walking did in one landmark study

If you’re over 50, you’ve probably noticed it. Names take a beat longer to arrive. You reread the same paragraph. You walk into a room and wonder why you came.

Part of the reason lives deep inside your brain, in a small, curved structure called the hippocampus. It’s essential for forming new memories — and after midlife it tends to shrink gradually, often around 1 to 2 percent a year in older adults.

For a long time, that was treated as a one-way street. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2011 challenged that idea in a very simple way.

The experiment

Researchers led by Kirk Erickson at the University of Pittsburgh recruited about 120 sedentary adults between 55 and 80 years old. Half were assigned to walk briskly around a track three times a week, building up to 40 minutes per session. The other half did stretching and toning exercises instead.

After one year, the team measured each person’s hippocampus with MRI.

The walking group’s hippocampus grew by about 2 percent. The stretching group’s shrank by about 1.4 percent — roughly the decline expected with age. The researchers described the walking effect as reversing age-related loss by one to two years. The walkers also showed better performance on a spatial memory task.

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What walking does inside the brain

Scientists think several things happen at once when you walk regularly:

• More blood flow to the brain. Aerobic activity increases circulation, delivering oxygen and nutrients to brain tissue.
• More BDNF. Exercise raises brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein sometimes described as “fertilizer” for brain cells. In the Erickson study, higher BDNF tracked with hippocampal growth.
• Healthier blood vessels. What supports your heart and blood pressure also supports the small vessels that feed your brain.
• Better sleep and mood. Both have a direct line to how well memories are formed and stored.

Bigger studies point in the same direction. A 2022 analysis of nearly 80,000 adults in the UK Biobank, published in JAMA Neurology, found that people who took more steps each day had a lower risk of developing dementia over the following years. Observational studies can’t prove cause and effect, but the pattern lines up with the trial evidence.

Fuel for the walk: 7 everyday foods and your memory

Walking is one half of the routine. What you put on your plate before and after is the other. Here’s what research says about seven foods most of us have in the kitchen right now.

Eat moreEggs

Egg yolks are one of the richest natural sources of choline, which the body uses to make acetylcholine, a chemical messenger involved in memory. In the Framingham Offspring study, people with higher choline intake scored better on memory tests.

Eat moreBerries

In a Harvard analysis of more than 16,000 women, those who ate the most blueberries and strawberries showed slower memory decline — by up to about two and a half years.

Eat moreGrapes

Dark grapes are rich in flavonoids. In small studies of older adults with mild memory complaints, researchers saw improvements in memory tests after several weeks of daily Concord grape juice.

Eat moreMilk

Low-fat dairy is part of the DASH eating pattern, and milk is a good source of vitamin B12. Low B12 is more common after 50 and can itself cause memory problems.

Go easyHoney

Natural, yes — but still added sugar as far as your body is concerned. A drizzle is fine. A daily habit of spoonfuls adds up, and high blood sugar over time is tied to memory decline.

Go easySoda

In the Framingham Heart Study, adults who drank sugary beverages most often had smaller brain volume and poorer memory scores. Swap for water, sparkling water or unsweetened tea.

Go easyBread

White, refined bread spikes blood sugar quickly. The MIND eating pattern favors whole grains instead — choose 100% whole-grain or sourdough-style loaves when you can.

A four-week plan to start walking for your memory

You don’t need to match the study on day one. Build up the way the participants did:

Check with your doctor before starting a new exercise routine, especially if you have heart, joint or balance concerns.

Walking is one piece. Here’s the rest.

A short free presentation goes deeper into how memory changes after 50 and the simple daily routine people are pairing with their walks to stay sharp.

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Questions readers ask

1. Erickson KI, et al. Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory. PNAS. 2011;108(7):3017–3022.
2. del Pozo Cruz B, et al. Association of daily step count and intensity with incident dementia in 78,430 adults. JAMA Neurol. 2022.
3. Livingston G, et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. Lancet. 2024.
4. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd ed.
5. Poly C, et al. The relation of dietary choline to cognitive performance. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011.
6. Devore EE, et al. Dietary intakes of berries and flavonoids in relation to cognitive decline. Ann Neurol. 2012.
7. Krikorian R, et al. Concord grape juice supplementation improves memory function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Br J Nutr. 2010.
8. Pase MP, et al. Sugary beverage intake and preclinical Alzheimer’s disease in the community. Alzheimers Dement. 2017.