Your Brain on Yoga: 5 Ways Yoga May Help Mitigate Cognitive Decline

The statistics are sobering: After age 65, the risk of Alzheimer’s disease doubles approximately every five years. By age 85, nearly one in three people will develop some form of dementia.

With the global population of adults over 65 expected to exceed 2 billion by 2050, we are facing a significant cognitive health challenge. Memory becomes less reliable, processing speed slows, and brain volume shrinks—a narrative that often feels inevitable.

But does it have to be that way? Emerging research suggests that the ancient practice you might already be doing on your mat could play a role in reshaping this trajectory.

A comprehensive systematic review published in Brain Plasticity examined 11 studies exploring yoga’s effects on brain structure and function using advanced imaging techniques like MRI and fMRI.

The findings offer encouraging, though preliminary, insights. While the science is still young, the data suggests that behavioral interventions like yoga may hold promise to help mitigate age-related decline—potentially by engaging the very brain regions most vulnerable to aging.

Your Brain on Yoga: 5 Ways Yoga Changes Brain Aging

Let’s explore what scientists are discovering about yoga’s potential protective effects on the aging brain, along with the important context needed to interpret these findings.

1. The Hippocampus: Your Brain’s Memory Keeper

Perhaps the most striking finding across multiple studies was yoga’s association with greater volume in the hippocampus—a seahorse-shaped structure deep in the brain that serves as the command center for learning and memory.

This matters because the hippocampus is one of the first casualties of aging. In typical aging, hippocampal volume shrinks progressively; in Alzheimer’s disease, this atrophy accelerates dramatically.

The review found that long-term yoga practitioners consistently showed greater hippocampal volume compared to non-practitioners, particularly in the left hippocampus.

However, it is important to note that because these studies were cross-sectional (comparing groups at one point in time), we cannot definitively say yoga caused the larger volume, or if people with healthier brains are simply more prone to sticking with yoga.

Intervention studies—which track changes over time—offer a mixed but hopeful picture. While one study found hippocampal growth after six months of practice, another found that a 12-week yoga course did not increase volume, though a memory-training group in the same study did see growth. This suggests that while yoga supports this region, the benefits might require longer-term practice than purely cognitive training.

3. The Prefrontal Cortex: Your Executive Command Center

While the hippocampus manages memory, your prefrontal cortex orchestrates the higher-order thinking that governs planning, decision-making, and multitasking. This region often thins with age, contributing to the “senior moments” of indecision or difficulty focusing.

Research revealed that yoga practitioners showed greater cortical thickness in areas of the prefrontal cortex compared to non-practitioners. Perhaps more fascinating, studies examining brain function during cognitive tasks found that experienced practitioners displayed signs of “neural efficiency.”

Specifically, practitioners often demonstrated less activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during working memory tasks but performed just as well as controls. This pattern suggests their brains may accomplish the same cognitive work with less effort—like a well-tuned engine maintaining speed at lower RPMs. This efficiency implies a greater cognitive reserve, potentially offering resilience against the demands of aging.

4. The Default Mode Network: Your Brain at Rest

One of the most intriguing findings involves the default mode network (DMN)—a collection of brain regions involved in self-reflection and memory that activates when the mind is at rest. In healthy aging, and especially in Alzheimer’s, connectivity within this network tends to weaken.

The review found that older adults with years of yoga practice showed greater functional connectivity within the DMN compared to age-matched non-practitioners. Promisingly, a 12-week intervention study demonstrated that starting a yoga practice could increase connectivity in these regions, and these changes correlated with improvements in verbal memory performance. This suggests that strengthening the DMN could be one pathway through which yoga supports cognitive function.

5. The Amygdala and Emotional Regulation

The review also revealed yoga’s effects on the amygdala—the brain’s threat-detection system. Chronic stress can damage brain structures like the hippocampus, and an overactive amygdala is often linked to both mood disorders and cognitive decline.

Studies found that yoga practitioners showed different patterns of amygdala activation when viewing emotional images, displaying less reactivity to negative stimuli. This suggests that yoga may cultivate more efficient emotional regulation strategies. By helping practitioners manage stress responses more skillfully, yoga may offer indirect protection for the brain, reducing the exposure to stress hormones that can accelerate aging.

A Promising Frontier with Caveats

What emerges from this research is a picture of yoga working through multiple potential mechanisms: maintaining structure in vulnerable regions, enhancing functional efficiency, and improving stress regulation.

However, scientific rigor requires us to manage our expectations. The authors of the systematic review emphasize that this field is still in its “nascent” stages. Many of the studies reviewed had small sample sizes (ranging from just 4 to over 100 participants) and lacked active control groups, making it difficult to rule out other factors. Furthermore, the cross-sectional nature of many studies means we cannot yet prove causation with certainty.

Researchers still need to determine the optimal “dose” of yoga, compare its effects directly to other forms of exercise, and conduct longer-term trials to confirm these neuroprotective effects.

The Verdict

While we cannot yet claim yoga is a “cure” or a guaranteed prevention method for dementia, the current evidence elevates it beyond simple flexibility training. It appears to be a viable, low-risk lifestyle intervention that targets the neural architecture most vulnerable to aging.

So when you step onto your mat, you are likely doing more than just stretching. You are engaging in a holistic practice that current science suggests may build cognitive resilience and support brain health. While we await more definitive data, the combination of physical movement, breathwork, and mindfulness remains one of the smartest investments you can make in your future well-being.