Regular exercise can help stave off some effects of normal aging and delay or diminish the gravity of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, (21.DEPRESS)____________and multiple sclerosis.
Even over a relatively short time, exercise can repair some of the loss in brain capacity associated with aging. The greatest effects have been found in processes such as decision- making. Aerobic exercise can also improve short-term memory in the elderly. Exercise has been found to lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in mice by decreasing the (22.BUILD)__________of a protein known as beta-amyloid, which forms the brain plaques that precede Alzheimer’s. The mice also (23.PERFORM)____________ non-exercising mice in a memory test. In a study of multiple sclerosis patients, those who exercised (24.REGULAR)____________fared better than those who exercised less. The exercise groups scored better on tests of cognitive function, and their brain scans showed less deterioration and more gray matter.