New research suggests that where fat accumulates may be even more important, showing that regional fat distribution affects brain aging, memory, and cognitive performance in distinct ways. BMI provides a measure of total body fat, but studies increasingly find that the location of body fat has varying impacts. Two individuals with identical BMIs may experience markedly different cognitive aging, especially because upper-body fat impairs the hippocampus and visceral fat disrupts white-matter connectivity. Some studies suggest that aerobic exercise may be more effective at reducing visceral fat than resistance training, but you still need to exercise. They have been shown to target visceral fat, but their associated muscle loss may lead to other problems.