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Dr Angela Jefferson, the lead researcher for the study, did not want to draw any definite conclusions from the results the team had gained. However she admitted, “it does suggest that a healthy heart and brain go hand in hand.” Increasingly scientists are proving that issues in one part of the body can cause problems for other body parts. One example would be how problems with your teeth and gums can cause heart disease. In turn it seems your heart’s performance could impact your brain.

What surprised Dr. Jefferson was that those studied in the research were not sick people. “The observation that a lower cardiac index is related to smaller brain volume is concerning and requires further study,” she said. Yet a shrinking brain does not automatically mean something is wrong, rather it suggests that problems could occur in the future.

Also heart specialists say that the cardiac index (the heart’s performance) rarely changes and it would take a lot of exercise to make any difference. The research is not intended to diagnose issues with people’s heart activity nor offer remedies to help their brains. Rather the results are hoped to help scientists better understand the link between the brain and the heart and how to understand when the brain begins to fail in old age.

The team intends to continue to study brain changes to see how this affects memory and the brain’s ability to solve problems. In the meantime there is little you can do to increase your heart’s performance, but you can certainly stop it from getting any worse; eat good food and get lots of exercise. Look after your heart and your brain will thank you later!