Not only does walking help people process traumatic memories and deal with stress, it also helps stave off cognitive and memory problems. How? By preventing brain shrinkage — an important factor in the fight against both mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. “Because a cure for Alzheimer’s is not yet a reality, we hope to find ways of alleviating disease progression or symptoms in people who are already cognitively impaired,” Dr. Cyrus Raji, from the Department of Radiology at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, said to sciencedaily.com. “Volume is a vital sign for the brain. When it decreases, that means brain cells are dying. But when it remains higher, brain health is being maintained.”