In a famous Blue Zone, daily movement was tied to fewer memory complaints

By Pooja Toshniwal PahariaReviewed by Susha Cheriyedath, M.Sc.Aug 13 2026

A study of older adults living in Sardinia’s longevity-linked Blue Zone finds that daily movement, lower sedentary time, and confidence in physical and memory health are associated with fewer subjective memory concerns.

Study: What predicts memory complaints of older individuals living in the Sardinian Blue Zone? An exploratory interdisciplinary approach. Image Credit: Ollyy / Shutterstock

A recent study published in the journal Experimental Gerontology suggests that objectively measured movement and participants’ perceptions of their physical health are associated with memory complaints in older adults. The findings linked greater daily movement, less sedentary behavior, better perceived physical health, and greater confidence in memory abilities with fewer subjective memory complaints. In this cohort, these factors were associated with a lower likelihood of reporting memory complaints in old age.

Older adults often experience memory-related difficulties. While they may or may not develop objective cognitive impairment, they may report subjective memory complaints. Researchers have found that older adults who report memory complaints despite having no clinically evident memory deficits may be at elevated risk of conditions such as dementia and depression. Perceptions among people that their memory is declining may be associated with adverse mental health outcomes.

Nevertheless, the influence of physical health perceptions and beliefs related to memory performance on subjective memory complaints remains unclear. Also, most studies rely on objective measures such as cognitive tests, but subjective perception may differ. A better understanding of the determinants of these subjective concerns in older adults could help design preventive interventions to reduce the likelihood of age-related health problems and improve quality of life.

About the study

In the present study, researchers simultaneously examined physical activity, mobility, sleep, physical health perceptions, and self-reported memory efficacy to identify factors associated with memory complaints. They aimed to differentiate modifiable psychological and behavioral factors from age-associated cognitive decline to inform strategies for preventing or mitigating memory-related complaints in older adults.

The team enrolled 118 individuals (mean age, 82 years, 54 men, 64 women) from Sardinian Blue Zone communities, characterized by high longevity. All participants (with at least two previous generations) lived in independent homes in the Blue Zone from birth. None of them had severe cognitive impairment, based on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), or reported any musculoskeletal or neurologic conditions that could affect walking.

The participants completed sociodemographic interviews and several health assessments. Together, these measures provided subjective and objective information on cognitive efficiency, health perceptions, and memory-related beliefs. The participants also wore accelerometers on their non-dominant wrist for seven consecutive days, with a day considered valid if wear time was ≥16 hours, to provide objective data on physical activity, including daily step count, sedentary time, and sleep efficiency.

Using the Perceived Physical Health index, the researchers assessed participants’ perceptions of their health status. The participants used item 10 from the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-item10), a single yes/no question asking whether they felt they had more memory problems than most people, to report their subjective perceptions of memory difficulties. Using a six-item cognitive confidence subscale of the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MQC-30), the researchers evaluated participants' beliefs regarding their memory efficiency. They additionally used logistic regression models to identify which participants were more likely to report memory complaints based on odds ratios (ORs).

Results and discussion

Among the participants, 83% reported regularly engaging in leisure activities, including sports and socio-cultural activities. The mean MMSE score was approximately 26, suggesting relatively preserved cognitive efficiency in the study population.

Older adults who perceived better physical health and reported greater confidence in their memory abilities showed a lower likelihood of reporting memory complaints. These participants were also more physically active, with higher daily step counts and less sedentary time. The final regression model accounted for approximately 24% to 40% of the variation in the memory-complaint outcome, depending on the statistical measure used. In contrast, objectively measured sleep efficiency was not a significant predictor of memory complaints.

In previous studies, regular walking has been associated with increased gray matter and hippocampal volumes, as well as greater brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) production. Physically active individuals have also demonstrated better blood glucose levels, vascular function, and oxygen delivery to various brain tissues compared with physically inactive individuals.

It is often observed that people with active lifestyles also develop more social connections, which, along with greater environmental stimulation, may improve cognitive outcomes. Social activities can also improve mood regulation and stimulate emotional processes that may counteract the subjective perception of memory decline by increasing attentional engagement.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that among independently living older adults in the Sardinian Blue Zone, greater physical activity, less sedentary behavior, and more positive perceptions of physical health and memory ability were associated with fewer self-reported memory complaints. Clinicians could consider combining objective assessments with self-reported perceptions and beliefs to help characterize older adults who may be more likely to report memory problems.

In addition, healthcare providers could encourage older adults to maintain an active lifestyle as part of broader healthy-aging strategies. People could use simple and scalable metrics, such as daily step counts, to track their activity and make lifestyle changes that may support cognitive and metabolic health. However, the cross-sectional design means the study cannot establish that increasing activity or reducing sedentary time causes fewer memory complaints.

Other limitations included the small, highly selected Blue Zone sample; the use of a single GDS item to assess memory complaints; limited assessment of objective cognition beyond the MMSE; and wrist accelerometry, which may overestimate steps or misclassify sedentary behavior. In future studies, researchers should include more longitudinal evaluations with larger, more diverse samples to assess a broader range of psychological and cognitive measures, including episodic and working memory, attention, psychological well-being, and metacognition.