Staminamaker.com A study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience in 2014 found that aerobic fitness is associated with greater white matter integrity in children. Another study, Aerobic Exercise and Performance: a Meta-Analytic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials, mentioned above under [5], found that exercise gave people a modest improvement in their cognitive speed, ie how quickly their brains could process information. [7] Reduced brain atrophy Starting around the age of 30, our brains start to lose volume, most notably in the. This natural loss can affect our cognitive abilities, memory and even spur the onset of dementia. According to Exercise training increases size of and improves memory, a study published in (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science) in the USA in February 2011, moderate exercise in healthy older adults helps them gain 1-2% volume in the area, the equivalent of reversing brain aging by about 1-2 years. This reversal improved spatial memory. Research published in Nature.