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Effect of aerobic exercise on white matter microstructure in the aging brain
Cameron M Clark, Veronica Guadagni, Erin L Mazerolle, Michael Hill, David B Hogan, G Bruce Pike, Marc J Poulin. Behavioural brain research, 2019-07-04
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
Aging is associated with decline in white matter (WM) microstructure, decreased cognitive functioning, and increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Recent research has identified aerobic physical exercise as a promising intervention for increasing white matter microstructure in aging, with the aim of increasing cognitive abilities, and protecting against neurodegenerative processes. However, the degree to which white matter microstructure can be protected or improved with exercise remains incompletely understood. Here, a sub-group of 25 healthy, sedentary participants (aged 57 to 86 years; M = 67.1; SD = 7.9; 11 female, 14 male) from the larger Brain in Motion Study (Tyndall et al., 2013) underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) before and after a six-month aerobic exercise intervention. DTI data were analysed with FSL's Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) to determine whether WM microstructure improved, as defined by increased fractional anisotropy (FA) and/or decreased mean diffusivity (MD), after the aerobic exercise intervention. Neither FA nor MD of the cerebral WM were significantly correlated with either age or cardiovascular fitness at baseline. Whole-brain WM mean FA decreased over the intervention while mean MD showed no significant change. Longitudinal TBSS analyses revealed decreased FA in the left uncinate fasciculus, left anterior corona radiata, left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and left anterior thalamic radiation. MD increased in the left forceps major, left inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and left superior longitudinal fasciculus. Results indicate that six months of aerobic exercise in healthy, sedentary older adults was not associated with improvements in FA or MD measures of cerebral WM microstructure.
Key findings
- Aging is associated with decline in white matter (WM) microstructure, decreased cognitive functioning, and increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
- Neither FA nor MD of the cerebral WM were significantly correlated with either age or cardiovascular fitness at baseline.
- Whole-brain WM mean FA decreased over the intervention while mean MD showed no significant change.
- Longitudinal TBSS analyses revealed decreased FA in the left uncinate fasciculus, left anterior corona radiata, left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and left anterior thalamic radiation.
- Results indicate that six months of aerobic exercise in healthy, sedentary older adults was not associated with improvements in FA or MD measures of cerebral WM microstructure.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 55/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 31 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 55 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Behavioural brain research) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2019 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 31279793) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 31 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 31 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 55 out of 100. |
| Total | 55 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Clark, C. M., Guadagni, V., Mazerolle, E. L., Hill, M., Hogan, D. B., Pike, G. B., et al. (2019). Effect of aerobic exercise on white matter microstructure in the aging brain. Behavioural brain research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112042
Vancouver
Clark CM, Guadagni V, Mazerolle EL, Hill M, Hogan DB, Pike GB, et al. Effect of aerobic exercise on white matter microstructure in the aging brain. Behavioural brain research. 2019. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112042. PMID: 31279793.
BibTeX
@article{clark2019-31279793,
author = {Clark, Cameron M and Guadagni, Veronica and Mazerolle, Erin L and Hill, Michael and Hogan, David B and Pike, G Bruce and Poulin, Marc J},
title = {{Effect of aerobic exercise on white matter microstructure in the aging brain}},
journal = {Behavioural brain research},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112042},
pmid = {31279793},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112042}
}
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