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Resting Cerebral Blood Flow After Exercise Training in Mild Cognitive Impairment
Alfonso J Alfini1, Lauren R Weiss2,3, Kristy A Nielson4,5
1Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Journal of Alzheimer'S Disease : JAD
|January 15, 2019
Summary
Aerobic exercise improves cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cognitive function in older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Exercise training positively impacts brain health, benefiting both cognitively normal individuals and those with MCI.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Gerontology
- Exercise Physiology
Background:
- Exercise training is linked to enhanced cerebral blood flow (CBF) in cognitively normal older adults.
- CBF alterations, including prefrontal cortex perfusion, may support neural infrastructure changes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of a 12-week aerobic exercise program on resting CBF and cognitive function in cognitively normal (CN) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) individuals.
- Hypothesized that MCI participants would show higher baseline CBF than CN, with exercise reducing this difference and CBF changes correlating with cognitive improvements.
Main Methods:
- 18 CN and 17 MCI participants (aged 61-88) underwent assessments before and after a 12-week aerobic exercise intervention.
- Methods included aerobic fitness testing, neuropsychological evaluation, and perfusion-weighted MRI scans.
- Statistical analyses examined within- and between-group differences and correlations between CBF changes and cognitive outcomes.
Main Results:
- MCI participants initially had higher left insula perfusion than CN, a difference normalized by exercise.
- Aerobic exercise enhanced working memory and verbal fluency in both groups.
- Cognitive improvements were associated with altered CBF patterns, particularly in the MCI group.
Conclusions:
- Exercise training modifies CBF and enhances cognitive performance in older adults, irrespective of cognitive status.
- Further research is needed to elucidate the mediating role of CBF in the exercise-cognition relationship.
Keywords:
Agingcerebral blood flowexercisemagnetic resonance imagingmild cognitive impairmentneuroimagingMore Related Videos
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