Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026
Visualization of Intensity Levels to Reduce the Gap Between Self-Reported and Directly Measured Physical Activity
Published on: March 7, 2019
Association Between Accelerometer-Derived Physical Activity Measurements and Brain Structure: A Population-Based
Fabienne A U Fox1, Kersten Diers1, Hweeling Lee1
1From the Population Health Sciences (F.A.U.F., H.L., M.M.B.B., N.A.A.), German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn; Image Analysis (K.D., M.R.), German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn; Institute for Medical Biometry (A.M., M.M.B.B.), Informatics and Epidemiology (IMBIE), Faculty of Medicine, University of Bonn, Germany; A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging (M.R.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Department of Radiology (M.R.), Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and Department of Neurology (N.A.A.), Faculty of Medicine, University of Bonn, Germany.
Background And Objectives:
While there is growing evidence that physical activity promotes neuronal health, studies examining the relation between physical activity and brain morphology remain inconclusive. We therefore examined whether objectively quantified physical activity is related to brain volume, cortical thickness, and gray matter density in a large cohort study. In addition, we assessed molecular pathways that may underlie the effects of physical activity on brain morphology.
Methods:
We used cross-sectional baseline data from 2,550 eligible participants (57.6% women; mean age: 54.7 years, range: 30-94 years) of a prospective cohort study. Physical activity dose (metabolic equivalent hours and step counts) and intensity (sedentary and light-intensity and moderate-to-vigorous intensity activities) were recorded with accelerometers. Brain volumetric, gray matter density, and cortical thickness measures were obtained from 3T MRI scans using FreeSurfer and Statistical Parametric Mapping. The relation of physical activity (independent variable) and brain structure (outcome) was examined with polynomial multivariable regression, while adjusting for age, sex, intracranial volume, education, and smoking. Using gene expression profiles from the Allen Brain Atlas, we extracted molecular signatures associated with the effects of physical activity on brain morphology.
Results:
Physical activity dose and intensity were independently associated with larger brain volumes, gray matter density, and cortical thickness of several brain regions. The effects of physical activity on brain volume were most pronounced at low physical activity quantities and differed between men and women and across age. For example, more time spent in moderate-to-vigorous intensity activities was associated with greater total gray matter volume, but the relation leveled off with more activity (standardized β [95% CIs]: 1.37 [0.35-2.39] and -0.70 [-1.25 to -0.15] for the linear and quadratic terms, respectively). The strongest effects of physical activity were observed in motor regions and cortical regions enriched for genes involved in mitochondrial respiration.
Discussion:
Our findings suggest that physical activity benefits brain health, with the strongest effects in motor regions and regions with a high oxidative demand. While young adults may particularly profit from additional high-intensity activities, older adults may already benefit from light-intensity activities. Physical activity and reduced sedentary time may be critical in the prevention of age-associated brain atrophy and neurodegenerative diseases.
