Assessment
Cycling May Help Keep Your Mind in Gear
Get a head-to-toe workout
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It’s awe-inspiring to watch Tour de France cyclists zoom through the Alps like they have wings. But cycling’s many health benefits aren’t reserved for elite athletes.
Biking is one of the most versatile forms of exercise: You can cycle outdoors on trails or raods or indoors on a stationary bike, alone or as part of a group. It offers a workout for all fitness levels that's gentle on the joints and, like other forms of aerobic activity, biking can strengthen your heart, lungs and muscles. And recent research suggests it also may benefit your brain.
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A review of 28 studies — involving more than 310,000 total participants, including adults age 65 and older, published in the Journal of Transport & Health in 2026 — showed that cyclists tended to have better mobility and cardiovascular health, lower levels of stress and depression, and enhanced social connections and life satisfaction than noncyclists. Many of these benefits have strong connections to better brain health.
In another study, people who used a bicycle to run errands around town had a lower risk of dementia and greater volume in the hippocampus, the brain’s key memory region, compared with those who didn’t ride bikes. Published in JAMA Network Open in 2025, the study analyzed more than 13 years of data from 479,723 adults, with an average age of about 56.
Indoor cycling on a stationary bike — at a gym or in the comfort of one’s home — also offers potential brain benefits. In a study published in 2024 in Brain Connectivity, 37 healthy adults ages 60 to 89 had brain scans after a single 30-minute workout on a stationary bike. On another day, they got brain scans after spending 30 minutes resting. The post-cycling scans showed more efficient communication among certain brain networks compared with the post-resting scans.
Like other forms of aerobic exercise, cycling may also increase the activity of chemical messengers — like dopamine — involved in memory, mood and attention, as well as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Some scientists refer to BDNF as “fertilizer for the brain” because it promotes the growth and maintenance of brain cells. “These changes are going on within the brain immediately after exercise, even with just one session,” says study author J. Carson Smith, director of the Exercise for Brain Health Laboratory at the University of Maryland School of Public Health.
To get cycling’s potential brain and other health benefits, make it a part of your weekly routine. If you’ve been inactive, talk with your doctor first, and consider starting with 5 or 10 minutes and working up to 30 minutes.
“People should do whatever they’re able and willing to do,” Smith says. In other words, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Just hop on your bike — outdoors or indoors — and start spinning.
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