They have them walk at their usual pace and time them. They are at least 80 years old, yet some move at the average speed of people in their fifties. The researchers called them Super Movers and, following them over time, they observed something that also concerns the brain: their risk of developing cognitive impairment was 51% lower than that of their peers. The difference attracts attention, without turning brisk walking into a therapy against dementia.
The study published on Neurology analyzed three distinct groups of elderly people, using cognitive tests, MRIs and even post-mortem brain scans. The clearest result comes from 3,989 people involved in five international studies. Among them, 358 walked quickly enough to fall into the Super Movers category.
A step of fifty-year-olds after eighty
To conquer the definition it wasn’t enough to overtake friends during the walk. Walking speed had to exceed the expected mean for age and sex by at least 1.5 standard deviations. It is a rather selective statistical threshold: in previous research by the same group, Super Movers represented on average 7.3% of those over 80 and maintained a pace comparable to that of people thirty years younger.
In the new analysis, 274 participants who already showed cognitive impairment at the beginning were excluded. The others were followed for between 3.4 and 5.4 years. To identify a new case, the authors required both a worsening in tests and an impairment of daily activities necessary to live independently. In Super Movers the relative risk was 51% lower, with a hazard ratio of 0.49.
That 51% must be read with some precision. Indicates the statistical comparison between the two groups during the observed period; It doesn’t mean that half of dementia cases can be avoided by walking faster. The study also evaluates cognitive impairment and reported diagnoses of Alzheimer’s or dementia, which are related but not overlapping conditions. A single number, if left to run without a leash, tends to go a long way.
The brain showed similar damage
The second piece of research is perhaps the most interesting. In the LonGenity project, 197 people with an average age of 84.6 years were analyzed. Super Movers showed a slower decline in both memory and other cognitive abilities. The MRI scans also indicated better preservation of the volume of some areas of the hippocampus, a structure involved in the formation of memories and spatial orientation.
Then came the data from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, collected on 692 elderly people. Throughout life, Super Movers had better cognitive outcomes and had a lower prevalence of Alzheimer’s and dementia. After death, however, examination of brain tissues showed no significant differences in dementia-related pathologies compared to other participants. The alterations could be present to a similar extent; what changed was the ability to live with it without losing memory and cognitive functions as quickly.
The authors therefore talk about a possible brain resilience. Super Movers may possess biological, physical, or behavioral characteristics capable of attenuating the effects of injury on daily functioning. What they are, the study cannot yet say. And it is precisely here that the very fast pace stops seeming like a simple cause and begins to function as a sign of an organism that has aged better as a whole.
Speeding up on purpose is not enough
A person doesn’t become a Super Mover by deciding to lengthen their pace starting tomorrow morning. The research is retrospective and observational: it photographs people who had already maintained exceptional mobility, without assigning them a training program. It can therefore show an association, while the direction of the relationship remains open. A healthier brain helps you walk well; a physically active life can help protect the brain. The two trajectories probably accompany each other for decades.
The Super Movers, moreover, brought with them several other differences. In the previous study, 15 cohorts from 24 countries had fewer chronic diseases, healthier habits on average, a younger biological age and a lower mortality risk than their peers. The speed of walking therefore brings together the simultaneous work of muscles, balance, heart, nervous system and cognitive abilities. Reducing it to a simple question of stride would be convenient. Even too much.
For those over 65, the Ministry of Health recommends 150 to 300 minutes per week of moderate aerobic activity, together with exercises for strength, balance and fall prevention, always adapted to individual conditions. Forcing yourself to speed up when your pace has become uncertain can increase the risk of tripping; working gradually on mobility, muscles and stability has a much more concrete usefulness.
Walking speed could therefore become a simple and economical indicator of cognitive aging. In the Super Movers, even a brain with alterations similar to those of the same age continued to perform better. Now we need to understand what kept him standing.
