Nicola Lautenschlager, a professor from the University of Melbourne, and her colleagues looked into the strategies to delay cognitive decline and found that physical exercise is beneficial for the health of the brain.

Lautenschlager said that the gathered data makes it clear that habitual exercise , even at older ages, is valuable in protecting the mental processes of people.

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"Beyond that it's also very effective for protecting or maintaining mental health, especially in relation to symptoms of depression or anxiety," she added.

Lautenschlager also advises that older individuals that are capable do 150 minutes worth of physical activities per week, such as going for walks.

"When it comes [to] brain health...it would be good if the walking speed isn't very slow, so it shouldn't be a stroll but rather what we call moderate pace," she said.

The team's research has shown that the brain benefits from levels of physical activities that have a certain intensity.

She also said that hobbies that keep the mind active, such as joining a book club, going to concerts or playing an instrument can also be very helpful, as long as the individual enjoys the activities.

"The minute you prescribe an activity they hate doing...most likely the effect in terms of being beneficial for brain health is lost," Lautenschlager said. "It produces so much stress in the body not wanting to do it that the stress is more harmful than the benefit of keeping the brain active."

The study also revealed that middle age is a pivotal time for making lifestyle decisions and will dictate a person's health once the individual ages.

"Usually we are talking about when you move into your 30s, definitely the 40s and also still the 50s," she said. "Things like a high blood pressure or carrying too much weight, if you do that in these decades, it seems to harm the brain long-term in terms of how healthy a person is in their 70s or 80s."

Tagsexercise, mental health, dementia prevention, Physical activity, brain, Brain health