The results demonstrate the importance of maintaining physical fitness and regular strenuous exercise to prolong neurological health. “The brain activation patterns of high-fit older adults in our study resemble those of the young adults during a complex cognitive task that requires switching attention focus and updating memory rapidly. This suggests that physical fitness can significantly modify age-related changes in the brain.”The researchers used functional MRI to measure fluctuations in blood oxygen level-dependent signals as the 52 study participants performed tasks involving several varieties of cognitive control. Limited research exists on contributions of physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness to cognitive functions like those tested in the study, including switching, updating and event anticipation, Basak said. “When a task is extremely difficult, this region’s activation typically drops in older adults whereas younger adults may still show an increase.