Sakhare Ashwin, Stradford Joy, Ravichandran Roshan, Deng Rong, Ruiz Julissa, Subramanian Keshav, Suh Jaymee, Pa Judy
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Department of Neurology, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Brain Plast. 2021 Oct 19;7(2):111-130. doi: 10.3233/BPL-210126. eCollection 2021.
Aerobic exercise and environmental enrichment have been shown to enhance brain function. Virtual reality (VR) is a promising method for combining these activities in a meaningful and ecologically valid way.
The purpose of this Phase 2 pilot study was to calculate relative change and effect sizes to assess the impact of simultaneous exercise and cognitive training in VR on brain health and cognition in older adults.
Twelve cognitively normal older adults (64.7±8.8 years old, 8 female) participated in a 12-week intervention, 3 sessions/week for 25-50 minutes/session at 50-80% HR. Participants cycled on a custom-built stationary exercise bike while wearing a VR head-mounted display and navigating novel virtual environments to train spatial memory. Brain and cognitive changes were assessed using MRI imaging and a cognitive battery.
Medium effect size (ES) improvements in cerebral flow and brain structure were observed. Pulsatility, a measure of peripheral vascular resistance, decreased 10.5% (ES(d) = 0.47). Total grey matter volume increased 0.73% (ES(r) = 0.38), while thickness of the superior parietal lobule, a region associated with spatial orientation, increased 0.44% (ES(r) = 0.30). Visual memory discrimination related to pattern separation showed a large improvement of 68% (ES( ) = 0.43). Cognitive flexibility (Trail Making Test B) (ES(r) = 0.42) and response inhibition (ES(W) = 0.54) showed medium improvements of 14% and 34%, respectively.
Twelve weeks of simultaneous exercise and cognitive training in VR elicits positive changes in brain volume, vascular resistance, memory, and executive function with moderate-to-large effect sizes in our pilot study.
有氧运动和环境丰富化已被证明可增强脑功能。虚拟现实（VR）是一种很有前景的方法，能以有意义且符合生态效度的方式将这些活动结合起来。
本2期试点研究的目的是计算相对变化和效应量，以评估在VR中同时进行运动和认知训练对老年人脑健康和认知的影响。
12名认知正常的老年人（64.7±8.8岁，8名女性）参与了为期12周的干预，每周3次，每次25 - 50分钟，心率保持在50 - 80%。参与者在定制的固定健身自行车上骑行，同时佩戴VR头戴式显示器并在新颖的虚拟环境中导航以训练空间记忆。使用MRI成像和认知测试组评估脑和认知的变化。
观察到脑血流和脑结构有中等效应量（ES）的改善。搏动性是外周血管阻力的一种度量，降低了10.5%（ES(d) = 0.47）。总灰质体积增加了0.73%（ES(r) = 0.38），而与空间定向相关的顶上小叶厚度增加了0.44%（ES(r) = 0.30）。与模式分离相关的视觉记忆辨别有68%的大幅改善（ES( ) = 0.43）。认知灵活性（连线测验B）（ES(r) = 0.42）和反应抑制（ES(W) = 0.54）分别有14%和34%的中等改善。
在我们的试点研究中，12周在VR中同时进行运动和认知训练会引起脑容量、血管阻力、记忆和执行功能的积极变化，效应量为中等至较大。
