Key points from article :
Qigong, an ancient Chinese mind-body practice, improves cognition, lowers inflammation, and increases the size of hippocampus.
It combines many aspects of meditation with mild exercise.
It requires little space and can be practiced indoors.
Suitable for the elderly who often stop being physically active when usual types of exercise become burdensome.
Qigong group benefited from a significant increase in information processing speed, sustained attention.
Increase in hippocampal volume was linked to increase in sustained attention.
Reduction in IL-6 levels correlated strongly with gains in processing speed.
Did not find any substantial correlation for subjects' working memory with the training.
But 12 weeks might not be enough to reveal all its benefits.
Traditional practices might prove helpful in slowing age-related cognitive decline, at least until science can provide a robust alternative.
Study by The University of Hong Kong published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
