New research shows exercise may help prevent memory deterioration in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease. 

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) finds that exercise positively affects the brain’s hippocampus region, an area which is important for both memory and balance. In Alzheimer’s, the hippocampus is one of the first parts of the brain to suffer damage. Exercise and increased physical fitness also slow down age-related brain-cell death in healthy older adults, according to the findings.

Researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, KS, using MRI and other neuroimaging tools, found a "significant relationship" between the size of key brain areas associated with memory and fitness in patients with early Alzheimer’s. Patients who were more physically fit had less brain-tissue atrophy, while those who rated more as couch potatoes had more brain damage.

"This is the first study to get an inside look into specifically where these changes occur in the brain — we’re able to locate the changes associated with fitness to the actual memory region, the hippocampus, which is a key area for Alzheimer’s-related atrophy," said Robyn A. Honea, Ph.D., a lead investigator on the study.

Understanding how exercise affects the brain could help scientists find a new target for drugs.

"Until now, there was no data to suggest people with Alzheimer’s may benefit from regular exercise," the study’s lead author, Jeffrey Burns, told Bloomberg in an interview.

Another report released over the weekend by Western Medicine, a provider for Hollywood Hospital in Western Australia, showed that a year-long home-based exercise program reduced falls and improved balance in patients with dementia.