TL;DR
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Researchers analyzing Fitbit and blood pressure records from 3,093 adults found that higher physical activity was associated with better performance on three of four cognitive tests. The observational study measured cognition once, so it cannot show that walking more improves brain function or prevents decline.
Adults with higher recorded step counts tended to score better on three of four cognitive tests in a study of 3,093 U.S. participants, researchers reported in the journal Scientific Reports. The findings link daily physical activity with performance on tasks measuring attention, cognitive control and decisions about delayed rewards, but the study does not establish that walking more causes better cognition.
The researchers used Fitbit activity records and blood pressure data available across a 14-year period, from 2009 to 2023, for participants in the All of Us Research Program. Cognitive tests were completed once, beginning in September 2023. The participants ranged from 18 to 93 years old; their mean age was 58.
The four assessments covered different skills: the Flanker task measured cognitive control, the Gradual Onset Continuous Performance Task (Grad-CPT) assessed sustained attention, the Delay Discounting Task (DD-Task) examined choices between immediate and delayed rewards, and the Multiracial Emotional Recognition Task assessed facial emotion recognition. Higher baseline physical activity was associated with better scores on the Flanker, Grad-CPT and DD-Task. The researchers did not find a significant association with the emotional recognition test.
For a separate comparison, participants were grouped by their step-count patterns. The groups averaged 5,108, 8,875 and 14,161 steps, respectively. People in the two higher-step groups scored better on the Grad-CPT, Flanker and DD-Task than those in the lowest-step group. The highest-step group had the strongest Grad-CPT and DD-Task scores, while the middle group had the strongest Flanker scores. These are group averages, not a prescribed daily target.
What the Test Scores Suggest
The results add evidence from device-recorded activity to research on movement and cognitive performance. Earlier studies have often relied on self-reported activity or shorter measurement periods, which can make it harder to compare activity patterns over time. Here, researchers used long-running records to estimate participants’ activity and relate it to several distinct cognitive skills.
The reported associations were small, and they do not show that increasing someone’s step count will improve their test scores. Still, the findings may help guide further research into how physical activity and vascular health relate to thinking skills. The distinction matters for readers: the study observed a pattern across participants; it did not test a walking program, diagnose cognitive impairment, or show that activity prevents dementia.
The blood pressure findings were narrower. Higher systolic blood pressure was associated with poorer performance on the DD-Task, while diastolic blood pressure was not significantly associated with any of the four tests. After adjustment for other factors, blood pressure was not significantly related to performance on the emotional recognition, Flanker or Grad-CPT tasks.
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How Activity and Blood Pressure Were Measured
The study examined participants in the All of Us program, a U.S. research initiative, and adjusted its analyses for age, education, marital status, income and country of origin. Most participants were 60 or older, White, female and U.S.-born, and most reported some college education or more. That profile is relevant when judging how readily the findings apply to other populations.
Researchers modeled changes in physical activity and systolic and diastolic blood pressure over time, then used participant-specific estimates in analyses of cognitive test results. They also tested whether systolic blood pressure statistically accounted for part of the association between activity and DD-Task performance. Each estimated 1,000-step increase in daily activity was associated with scores 0.31 points higher on the Grad-CPT and 0.26 points higher on the Flanker task; participants also performed better on the DD-Task. The supplied report does not specify a comparison baseline or time window for those score differences.
Higher physical activity was associated with lower systolic blood pressure, and both were independently associated with higher DD-Task scores. The mediation analysis estimated that systolic blood pressure accounted for 4.8% of the activity–DD-Task association; the association with activity remained after adjusting for blood pressure. The authors also noted that changes in activity and blood pressure over time were not significantly associated with cognitive performance.
“The observed effect sizes were small.”
— The study authors, as summarized in the report
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What One-Time Testing Cannot Show
Because cognition was measured only once, the study cannot determine whether people who became more active later improved their scores, or whether people with stronger cognitive performance were more likely to maintain higher activity. It also cannot show that physical activity prevents cognitive decline, or that lowering blood pressure improves cognition. The authors describe the data as observational, not as evidence of cause and effect.
The measured associations were small, and changes in activity and blood pressure over time were not significantly associated with test performance. The source report does not provide enough detail to translate score differences into a clear change in everyday functioning. It also does not establish whether the patterns hold for people underrepresented in this sample, which was largely older, White and college-educated.
The report mentions possible biological explanations, including changes in inflammation, glucose metabolism and neuroplasticity, but these were not established as mechanisms by this analysis. Further research would be needed to test them and to clarify whether activity or blood pressure changes precede changes in cognition.
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Questions for Follow-Up Studies
The reported study does not announce a next testing date or a follow-up trial. The key next step for research would be to track cognitive performance repeatedly, alongside activity and blood pressure, to see whether changes in one measure correspond to later changes in another. Studies that test activity interventions could address causation more directly than this observational analysis.
Until such evidence is available, the results are best read as an association between recorded activity and selected test scores—not as proof that a particular step count improves cognition or that blood pressure treatment changes brain-test performance. The researchers’ findings and limits leave those questions open.
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Key Questions
Did the study prove that walking more improves brain function?
No. It found that higher recorded activity was associated with better scores on three tests, but its observational design cannot show that walking caused the differences.
Which cognitive tests were associated with higher activity?
Higher baseline activity was associated with better performance on the Flanker, Grad-CPT and Delay Discounting tasks. The study found no significant association with the emotional recognition task.
What did the study find about blood pressure?
Higher systolic blood pressure was associated with poorer Delay Discounting Task performance. Diastolic blood pressure was not significantly associated with any of the four tests, and systolic pressure was not significantly associated with three of them after adjustment.
Does the study recommend a daily step target?
No. The step counts describe averages in the study’s participant groups; they were not presented as a recommended target or tested as an intervention.
Could the findings show that activity prevents cognitive decline?
No. Participants completed cognitive testing once, so the researchers could not measure cognitive decline or determine whether activity changes preceded changes in test performance.
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