A group of us were sitting around having a good laugh when three disembodied heads flew past the front window in quick succession.

“Did you see that?” I asked.

“The Segways,” someone replied. “They rent them downtown.”

Ohhhh, the Segways. Well, it was just a bit early for Halloween.

A Segway is a two-wheeled, self-balancing motorized vehicle that can transport a single rider in a standing position at speeds up to about 12 mph. Though I’ve never had the pleasure, they look like an absolute blast to ride. But as I watched the Segways roll by and considered the motorized carts supplied by most stores and the ubiquitous ads for motorized chairs, I couldn’t help wondering if humans are unlearning how to walk … and what consequences that might have.

Yes, those motorized devices are a blessing to those who can’t walk. But there’s a difference between can’t—prevented by injury or disease—and won’t because various issues have made it uncomfortable. The problem with relying on motorized devices is that when people stop trying to walk, uncomfortable conditions can become crippling as muscles atrophy and weight gain increases. And now we know giving up walking can take its toll on the mind as well as the body.

The walking cure

According to a just-released study published in the journal Neurology and funded by the United States National Institute on Aging, simple walking may be the secret to preventing brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

About two decades ago, researchers began tracking the physical activity and cognitive (thinking) patterns of nearly 300 healthy adults whose average age was 78. They charted how many blocks each person walked per week, then periodically measured their brain size using magnetic resonance imaging. The more the subject walked, the more gray matter they retained in the areas of the brain that are central to cognition. A decade into the study, the most physically active participants had cut their chances of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s in half.

The catch is that benefits applied only to those who regularly walked long distances equaling six to nine miles a week. Exercising more didn’t continue to enlarge the brain, which can only grow to a certain degree. But according to the researchers, failing to exercise seems to lead to significant deterioration and decay as the years pass.

So apparently memory loss doesn’t have to be an inevitable effect of aging. Although more research is needed to draw definitive conclusions, it appears that walking regularly can help people maintain healthy brains as well as healthy bodies.

On second thought … maybe I won’t try that Segway after all. Nice day for a walk.