Effects of aerobic exercise on brain metabolism and grey matter volume in older adults : results of the randomised controlled SMART trial

  • There is mounting evidence that aerobic exercise has a positive effect on cognitive functions in older adults. To date, little is known about the neurometabolic and molecular mechanisms underlying this positive effect. The present study used magnetic resonance spectroscopy and quantitative MRI to systematically explore the effects of physical activity on human brain metabolism and grey matter (GM) volume in healthy aging. This is a randomised controlled assessor-blinded two-armed trial (n=53) to explore exercise-induced neuroprotective and metabolic effects on the brain in cognitively healthy older adults. Participants (age >65) were allocated to a 12-week individualised aerobic exercise programme intervention (n=29) or a 12-week waiting control group (n=24). The main outcomes were the change in cerebral metabolism and its association to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels as well as changes in GM volume. We found that cerebral choline concentrations remained stable after 12 weeks of aerobic exercise in the intervention group, whereas they increased in the waiting control group. No effect of training was seen on cerebral N-acetyl-aspartate concentrations, nor on markers of neuronal energy reserve or BDNF levels. Further, we observed no change in cortical GM volume in response to aerobic exercise. The finding of stable choline concentrations in the intervention group over the 3 month period might indicate a neuroprotective effect of aerobic exercise. Choline might constitute a valid marker for an effect of aerobic exercise on cerebral metabolism in healthy aging.

Download full text files

Export metadata

Metadaten
Author:Silke MaturaORCiDGND, Johannes FleckensteinORCiDGND, Ralf DeichmannORCiD, Tobias EngeroffORCiDGND, Eszter FüzékiORCiDGND, Elke HattingenORCiDGND, Rainer Hellweg, Bianca Lienerth, Ulrich Pilatus, Sina Schwarz, Valentina Tesky, Lutz VogtGND, Winfried BanzerGND, Johannes PantelORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-465487
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2017.135
ISSN:2158-3188
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28934191
Parent Title (English):Translational Psychiatry
Publisher:Nature Publishing Group
Place of publication:London
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2017
Date of first Publication:2017/07/18
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2018/05/24
Tag:Neuroscience; Psychology
Volume:7
Issue:7, e1172
Page Number:9
First Page:1
Last Page:9
Note:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
HeBIS-PPN:43387113X
Institutes:Psychologie und Sportwissenschaften / Sportwissenschaften
Medizin / Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung-Keine kommerzielle Nutzung-Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen