Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, The University of Iowa, USA; Iowa Neuroscience Institute, Carver College of Medicine, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA; Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Training Program, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, The University of Iowa, USA.
Contemp Clin Trials. 2024 Oct;145:107647. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2024.107647. Epub 2024 Jul 31.
Despite evidence that aerobic exercise benefits the aging brain, in particular the hippocampus and memory, controlled clinical trials have not comprehensively evaluated effects of aerobic exercise training on human memory in older adults. The central goal of this study was to determine chronic effects of moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic exercise on the hippocampus and memory in non-demented, inactive adults ages 55-80 years. We determine effects of aerobic exercise training with a 6-month randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing 150 min/week of home-based, light intensity exercise with progressive moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic exercise. For the first time in a large trial, we examined temporal mechanisms by determining if individual differences in the rapid, immediate effects of moderate intensity exercise on hippocampal-cortical connectivity predict chronic training-related changes over months in connectivity and memory. We examined physiological mechanisms by testing the extent to which chronic training-related changes in cardiorespiratory fitness are a critical factor to memory benefits. The Exercise Effects on Brain Connectivity and Learning from Minutes to Months (Brain-EXTEND) trial is conceptually innovative with advanced measures of hippocampal-dependent learning and memory processes combined with novel capture of the physiological changes, genetic components, and molecular changes induced by aerobic exercise that change hippocampal-cortical connectivity. Given that hippocampal connectivity deteriorates with Alzheimer's and aerobic exercise may contribute to reduced risk of Alzheimer's, our results could lead to an understanding of the physiological mechanisms and moderators by which aerobic exercise reduces risk of this devastating and costly disease.
尽管有证据表明有氧运动有益于衰老的大脑，特别是海马体和记忆力，但对照临床试验并未全面评估有氧运动训练对老年人群记忆力的影响。本研究的核心目标是确定中等至高强度有氧运动对 55-80 岁非痴呆、不活跃成年人海马体和记忆力的慢性影响。我们通过一项为期 6 个月的随机对照试验 (RCT) 来确定有氧运动训练的效果，该试验将每周 150 分钟的家庭低强度运动与逐渐增加的中等至高强度有氧运动进行比较。在一项大型试验中，我们首次通过确定个体在中等强度运动的快速、即时效应上的差异是否可以预测数月内连接性和记忆力的慢性训练相关变化，来研究时间机制。我们通过测试心肺功能适应慢性训练相关变化的程度是否是记忆益处的关键因素来研究生理机制。从分钟到数月的大脑连接和学习的运动效果（Brain-EXTEND）试验具有创新性，它结合了先进的海马体依赖学习和记忆过程测量，以及对有氧诱导的生理变化、遗传成分和分子变化的新颖捕捉，这些变化改变了海马体-皮质连接。由于海马体连接随着阿尔茨海默病而恶化，而有氧运动可能有助于降低阿尔茨海默病的风险，因此我们的结果可能有助于了解有氧运动降低这种破坏性和高成本疾病风险的生理机制和调节因素。
