Aerobic fitness

2 papers4 findings

C, W, M, H: cells, worms or flies, mice, humans. Dark: independent labs found the same change there. Light: one lab or one study. Outline: nothing yet.

Labs are independent when their papers share no last author and no institution.

Against: findings that point the other way from most findings on the same outcome.

On aging: the drug’s trials ARN judged to be about aging, of every trial that tests it for any use.

No results posted: trials that ended more than a year ago with no results on ClinicalTrials.gov and no paper in ARN’s record.

Company ties: findings with an author at a company, or from a paper whose competing-interests statement declares ties to one.

2 independent labs in 1 country

Funder: National Institute on Aging

Humans2

Outcomes

Cognitive function

upin humans1

1 study

Aerobic fitness improves cognitive function in humans.
“Higher aerobic fitness was significantly associated with fewer generalization errors.”
Humansolder African Americansn = 231
Lower CD8+ T‐cell Senescence Partially Mediates the Neuroprotection of Higher Aerobic Fitness
AAIC 2025 abstract11 Jan 2026

CD8+ T-cell senescence

downin humans1

1 study

Aerobic fitness decreases CD8+ T-cell senescence in humans (β = -0.29, p = .03).
“higher aerobic fitness was associated with lower CD8+ T‐cell senescence ( = ‐0.29, p = .03)”
Humansolder African Americansn = 231
Lower CD8+ T‐cell Senescence Partially Mediates the Neuroprotection of Higher Aerobic Fitness
AAIC 2025 abstract11 Jan 2026

Associations

Spatial memory performance

upin humans1

1 study

Aerobic fitness is associated with spatial memory performance in humans.
“larger hippocampi and higher fitness levels were correlated with better spatial memory performance”
Humansnondementedn = 165
Aerobic fitness is associated with hippocampal volume in elderly humans
Hippocampus1 Oct 2009

Hippocampal volume

upin humans1

1 study

Aerobic fitness is associated with hippocampal volume in humans.
“higher fitness levels were associated with larger left and right hippocampi after controlling for age, sex, and years of education”
Humansnondementedhippocampusn = 165
Aerobic fitness is associated with hippocampal volume in elderly humans
Hippocampus1 Oct 2009