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      For the study, whose results appeared last month in Scientific Reports, researchers at the University of Birmingham tested the lungs and tongues, figuratively speaking, of 28 older men and women at the school’s human-performance lab. Volunteers were between 60 and 80 and healthy, with no clinical signs of cognitive problems. Their aerobic capacities were measured by having them ride a specialized stationary bicycle to exhaustion; fitness levels among the subjects varied greatly. This group and a second set of volunteers in their 20s then sat at computers as word definitions flashed on the screens, prompting them to indicate whether they knew and could say the implied word. The vocabulary tended to be obscure—“decanter,” for example—because words rarely used are the hardest to summon quickly. 

       To no one’s surprise, the young subjects experienced far fewer tip-of-the-tongue failures than the seniors, even though they had smaller vocabulary overall, according to other tests. Within the older group, the inability to identify and say the right words was strongly linked to fitness. The more fit someone was, the less likely he or she was to go through a “what’s that word again?” moment of mental choking. 

      As an observational investigation, a one-time snapshot of human capabilities, the study cannot prove that greater fitness is what causes older brains to maintain better processing skills; it can only suggest a correlation. Also, exercise habits were not considered; aerobic fitness, which depends to some degree on genetics, was the variable measured. Nor did the study look more broadly into how fitness might interact with language processing as a person ages. Nonetheless, “fitness has widespread effects on the brain,” says Katrien Segaert, a psychologist at the University of Birmingham who led the study. The areas affected include the frontal and temporal cortices, which are involved in language processing. Though more relevant research is needed, according to Segaert and her colleagues, this study is enough to hint that staying in shape could influence how well we communicate as we age. “Language is such a crucial skill, such a central part of cognition,” she says, and “being fit may help.”