Differential associations of engagement in physical activity and estimated cardiorespiratory fitness with brain volume i
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Differential associations of engagement in physical activity and estimated cardiorespiratory fitness with brain volume in middle-aged to older adults David A. Raichlen 1 & Yann C. Klimentidis 2,3 & Pradyumna K. Bharadwaj 4,5 & Gene E. Alexander 3,4,5,6,7,8,9
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract Previous work has confirmed the benefits of aerobic exercise for brain aging, however mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. Two measures of exercise, time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), may reflect different pathways linking activity to brain health. Using data from the UK Biobank, the largest sample combining neuroimaging and objectively measured MVPA available to date (n = 7148, nmale = 3062, nfemale = 4086; age = 62.14 ± 7.40 years), we found that, when adjusted for covariates including MVPA, CRF was positively associated with overall gray matter volume (FDR p = 1.28E-05). In contrast, when adjusted for covariates including CRF, MVPA was positively associated with left and right hippocampal (FDR pleft = 0.01; FDR pright = 0.02) volumes, but not overall gray matter volume. Both CRF and MVPA were inversely associated with white matter hyperintensity lesion loads (FDR pCRF = 0.002; pMVPA = 0.02). Our results suggest separable effects of engagement in exercise behaviors (MVPA) and the physiological effects of exercise (CRF) on structural brain volumes, which may have implications for differential pathways linking exercise and brain benefits. Keywords Exercise . VO2MAX . MRI . Hippocampus . Gray matter
Main Recent work has shown that aerobic exercise is associated with beneficial effects on brain structure and cognitive function, especially in older adults (Colcombe and Kramer 2003; Colcombe et al. 2006; Erickson et al. 2014; Hillman et al. 2008; Voss et al. 2011). This key finding suggests that modifiable lifestyle behaviors may alter the trajectory of cognitive decline associated with
both healthy aging, and neurodegenerative disease (Burns et al. 2008; Kramer et al. 2006; Raichlen and Alexander 2014). However, the mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. Both genetic and environmental influences on exercise participation (Klimentidis et al. 2018), as well as on the physiological response to exercise (Bouchard et al. 2015) have been described. Understanding which aspects of physical activity (PA) are important in modifying brain structure and function
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00148-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * David A. Raichlen [email protected]
4
Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 1503 E. University, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
* Gene E. Alexander [email protected]
5
Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
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Department of Psychiatry, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
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Neuros
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