Researchers say walking speed may offer clues to healthier aging, but it is not a treatment or guarantee against dementia
Walking speed may reveal more about aging than how quickly someone gets from one place to another.
An international study of adults 80 and older found that those who walked substantially faster than their peers had about half the observed risk of developing cognitive impairment over several years of follow-up. The findings add to research examining whether mobility can serve as one marker of how well the brain and body are aging.
The study does not show that simply walking faster prevents dementia. Instead, researchers say exceptional mobility in advanced age may help identify characteristics associated with greater physical and cognitive resilience.
Published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, the research drew on several long-running studies of aging.
Researchers classified the fastest participants as “super movers,” defined as adults 80 and older whose usual walking speed was at least 1.5 standard deviations above the average for people of the same age and sex. The term is a research classification, not a medical diagnosis.
The principal analysis included 3,989 adults from five international studies, including 358 super movers. After participants with cognitive impairment at the outset were excluded, the super movers had about half the observed risk of developing cognitive impairment during follow-up periods ranging from 3.4 to 5.4 years.
A separate analysis of 197 participants found that super movers experienced slower declines in memory and other cognitive abilities. Brain imaging in a smaller group also showed better preservation in parts of the hippocampus, a region central to learning and memory.
Another analysis found that super movers generally performed better cognitively during life even though researchers did not detect significant differences in dementia-related brain pathology after death. The finding has prompted interest in whether some older adults are better able to maintain mental function despite age-related changes in the brain.
Why walking speed matters
Walking requires coordination among the brain, nerves, muscles, joints, vision, balance mechanisms and cardiovascular system. Because so many systems are involved, gait speed has become an area of interest in aging research.
But the latest findings cannot establish cause and effect. Healthier brains may help people maintain a faster pace. Faster walkers may also have stronger cardiovascular health, fewer chronic illnesses, greater muscle strength or other characteristics that contribute to both mobility and cognition.
A slower pace, meanwhile, does not mean a person has dementia or will develop it. Arthritis, injury, impaired vision, medication effects, balance problems and neurological conditions can all affect walking speed.
For that reason, gait speed should not be used as a stand-alone screening or diagnostic test for cognitive impairment.
What older adults can take from the study
Federal health guidelines recommend that adults 65 and older get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity. Muscle-strengthening and balance activities are also recommended.
The practical lesson is not that older adults should try to match the fastest walkers in the study. The broader goal is to preserve safe movement, strength, balance and independence for as long as possible.
The research offers no guarantee against dementia. What it does suggest is that people who remain exceptionally mobile into their 80s also tend to maintain stronger cognitive function, giving scientists another window into what may help some people age with greater resilience.
