Lower walking activity linked to later neurological diagnoses

In the study summary, researchers wrote: “The results highlight a connection between everyday movement and wider health, rather than proving that a particular step target prevents brain disease.” They added: “A persistently low step count should prompt attention to overall health,” not fear that “a watch has predicted someone’s future diagnosis.”

Takeaway: Less movement was associated with more neurological diagnoses, but the study cannot tell whether walking itself changed the risk.

How did researchers study movement and health?

The team analyzed yearlong fitness-tracker data from 22,517 participants in the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program. Researchers then searched electronic medical records for new neurological diagnoses over about five years.

Meet Popatbhai Kachhadia, a neurology resident at Florida Atlantic University, led the work with colleagues including Marc Swerdloff of the Marcus Neuroscience Institute. The team presented its findings at the American Neurological Association’s 2026 annual meeting, and the results remain preliminary.

The researchers are also studying other possible early indicators, including blood proteins that may warn of dementia years in advance.

Takeaway: A year of ordinary step data revealed a group-level pattern that may eventually help researchers identify people who need closer health assessment.

Why might walking and neurological disease be linked?

Adults with low activity also had more diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and depression. Those conditions could help explain the association because they affect both movement and neurological health.

The relationship may also work in the opposite direction. Existing illness can reduce activity, while depression can sometimes precede a neurological diagnosis. Researchers therefore struggle to separate the effects of walking from early signs of disease or other health problems.

Step counts also cannot capture the full picture. Researchers need to consider activity type and intensity, neither of which a simple daily count fully describes. A tracker records movement, but it cannot explain why someone moves less or replace an assessment of physical and mental health.

Takeaway: The findings may reflect several influences, including general health and early illness, rather than a simple movement-to-diagnosis pathway.

What could the findings change in practice?

Further research will test how useful these activity patterns are for prevention and monitoring. The team will need to determine whether sustained movement can help identify risk or guide care before a neurological condition becomes apparent.

For now, the practical response is modest. Researchers recommend realistic, sustainable activity goals and routine attention to blood pressure, diabetes and mood. Those steps address overall health without treating a daily tracker number as a diagnosis.

Takeaway: A low step count may be a reason to review someone’s overall health, not a forecast of dementia or another brain disease.