Adults with mild cognitive impairment that exercise on a bike or elliptical 4x per week for six months increased total brain volume and temporal lobe
They also experienced an improvement in executive function. Several studies have shown that aerobic exercise causes a robust increase in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which increases the growth of new neurons and likely explains the increase in brain volume these people experienced.
From the article:
Using a new MRI technique, researchers found that adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who exercised four times a week over a six-month period experienced an increase in brain volume in specific, or local, areas of the brain
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The analysis revealed that for both the aerobic and stretching groups, brain volume increased in most gray matter regions, including the temporal lobe, which supports short-term memory.