BDNF mediates improvements in executive function following a 1-year exercise intervention

Abstract

Executive function declines with age, but engaging in aerobic exercise may attenuate decline. One mechanism by which aerobic exercise may preserve executive function is through the up-regulation of brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), which also declines with age. The present study examined BDNF as a mediator of the effects of a 1-year walking intervention on executive function in 90 older adults (mean age = 66.82). Participants were randomized to a stretching and toning control group or a moderate intensity walking intervention group. BDNF serum levels and performance on a task-switching paradigm were collected at baseline and follow-up. We found that age moderated the effect of intervention group on changes in BDNF levels, with those in the highest age quartile showing the greatest increase in BDNF after 1-year of moderate intensity walking exercise (p = 0.036). The mediation analyses revealed that BDNF mediated the effect of the intervention on task-switch accuracy, but did so as a function of age, such that exercise-induced changes in BDNF mediated the effect of exercise on task-switch performance only for individuals over the age of 71. These results demonstrate that both age and BDNF serum levels are important factors to consider when investigating the mechanisms by which exercise interventions influence cognitive outcomes, particularly in elderly populations.

The Brain and Movement: How Physical Activity Affects the Brain

“…To this family of proteins also belong NGF (nerve growth factor), NT3 and NT4 (neurotrophin 3 and 4). BDNF exerts its eff ects on the cognitive (Alesi et al, 2014) sphere through the abilities described above, and it is thought to infl uence learning (Leckie et al, 2014). Interestingly, an increase in BDNF aft er exercise is positively correlated with cognitive performance; this was also confi rmed recently by Van Dongen, Kersten, Wagner, Morris & Fernández (2016), who demonstrated that physical activity performed four hours aft er learning improves memory effi ciency, showing how the hippocampus improves its effi cacy in memory retention.…”

Interaction Effects of BDNF and COMT Genes on Resting-State Brain Activity and Working Memory

“…It should be mentioned that due to genetic pleiotropy, both COMT and BDNF have been found to be associated with several other aspects of cognition beyond WM, including reaction time (Das et al, 2014), cognitive flexibility (Kang et al, 2013), aging-related cognitive degradation (Ghisletta et al, 2014; Voelcker-Rehage et al, 2015), executive function (Leckie et al, 2014; Sapkota et al, 2015), and neurocognitive deficits in people with schizophrenia (Ahmed et al, 2015) or Parkinson's disease (Khalil et al, 2016). Nevertheless, WM has been the main focus of the previous literature in this field.…”

The effect of environmental temperature on exercise-dependent release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor

“…17 However, in a training protocol investigation, it was found that in older adults the basal BDNF concentrations were elevated in response to an aerobic training protocol. 38 Another training study found that despite an increase in VO 2peak and max workload there was no effect on resting BDNF concentrations. 39 Additionally, long-term aerobic exercise training has also been shown to increase the acute exercise-dependent BDNF response to an exercise bout.…”