Hwang Jungyun, Castelli Darla M, Gonzalez-Lima F
Bouvé College of Health Sciences and College of Arts, Media and Design, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA.
Physiol Behav. 2017 Oct 1;179:75-89. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.05.011. Epub 2017 May 10.
There is ample evidence for supporting the positive impact of aerobic fitness on cognitive function, but little is known about the physiological mechanisms. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the positive cognitive impact of aerobic fitness is associated with inflammatory and neurotrophic peripheral biomarkers in young adults aged 18 to 29years (n=87). For the objective assessment of aerobic fitness, we measured maximal oxygen uptake (VOmax) as a parametric measure of cardiorespiratory capacity. We demonstrated that young adults with the higher levels of VOmax performed better on computerized cognitive tasks assessing sustained attention and working memory. This positive VOmax-cognitive performance association existed independently of confounders (e.g., years of education, intelligence scores) but was significantly dependent on resting peripheral blood levels of inflammatory (C-reactive protein, CRP) and neurotrophic (brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF) biomarkers. Statistical models showed that CRP was a mediator of the effect of VOmax on working memory. Further, BDNF was a moderator of the effect of VOmax on working memory. These mediating and moderating effects occurred in individuals with higher levels of aerobic fitness. The results suggest that higher aerobic fitness, as measured by VOmax, is associated with enhanced cognitive functioning and favorable resting peripheral levels of inflammatory and brain-derived neurotrophic biomarkers in young adults.
有充分证据支持有氧适能对认知功能的积极影响，但对其生理机制却知之甚少。本研究的目的是调查有氧适能对认知的积极影响是否与18至29岁年轻成年人（n = 87）的炎症和神经营养外周生物标志物有关。为了客观评估有氧适能，我们测量了最大摄氧量（VOmax）作为心肺功能的参数指标。我们证明，VOmax水平较高的年轻成年人在评估持续注意力和工作记忆的计算机化认知任务中表现更好。这种VOmax与认知表现的正向关联独立于混杂因素（如受教育年限、智力得分），但显著依赖于炎症（C反应蛋白，CRP）和神经营养（脑源性神经营养因子，BDNF）生物标志物的静息外周血水平。统计模型显示，CRP是VOmax对工作记忆影响的中介因素。此外，BDNF是VOmax对工作记忆影响的调节因素。这些中介和调节作用发生在有氧适能水平较高的个体中。结果表明，以VOmax衡量的较高有氧适能与年轻成年人增强的认知功能以及炎症和脑源性神经营养生物标志物的有利静息外周水平相关。
