BDNF Responses in Healthy Older Persons to 35 Minutes of Physical Exercise, Cognitive Training, and Mindfulness: Associations with Working Memory Function

Abstract

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has a central role in brain plasticity by mediating changes in cortical thickness and synaptic density in response to physical activity and environmental enrichment. Previous studies suggest that physical exercise can augment BDNF levels, both in serum and the brain, but no other study has examined how different types of activities compare with physical exercise in their ability to affect BDNF levels. By using a balanced cross over experimental design, we exposed nineteen healthy older adults to 35-minute sessions of physical exercise, cognitive training, and mindfulness practice, and compared the resulting changes in mature BDNF levels between the three activities. We show that a single bout of physical exercise has significantly larger impact on serum BDNF levels than either cognitive training or mindfulness practice in the same persons. This is the first study on immediate BDNF effects of physical activity in older healthy humans and also the first study to demonstrate an association between serum BDNF responsivity to acute physical exercise and working memory function. We conclude that the BDNF increase we found after physical exercise more probably has a peripheral than a central origin, but that the association between post-intervention BDNF levels and cognitive function could have implications for BDNF responsivity in serum as a potential marker of cognitive health.

Carotid artery disease in post‐stroke survivors and effects of enriched environment on stroke pathology in a mouse model of carotid artery stenosis

“…This is consistent with previous studies in which physical exercise was demonstrated to be beneficial to motor and cognitive functions after stroke . We propose that EE in stroke survivors is implemented by 35‐min sessions of moderate physical exercise, cognitive training and mindfulness practice . This will have beneficial effects on reducing recurrent events and working memory function.…”

Mindfulness‐based program for stress reduction in infertile women: Randomized controlled trial

“…Similarly, a recent study with cyclists detected acute BDNF release during exercise and showed that intensified training improved the athletes' mood state, however, without modifying their plasma BDNF levels (Piacentini et al, ). The time latency for serum BDNF changes in response to behavioral and cognitive interventions is not clear‐cut and probably varies according to the health condition of the individual and the type of therapy (Hakansson et al, ; Kobayashi et al, ; Sanada et al, ; Turakitwanakan, Mekseepralard, & Busarakumtragul, ; Yamada, Yoshimura, Nakajima, & Nagata, ).…”

Repetitive enhancement of serum BDNF subsequent to continuation ECT

“…Critically, we did not observe a decline in MMSE scores across treatments in patients receiving either unilateral or bilateral treatment in the present study. In fact, given that c‐ECT led to elevations in BDNF in our sample and that BDNF is critically involved in cognitive processes , cognitive performance, assessed via the MMSE, may have been bolstered by monthly, ECT‐induced BDNF boosts. However, the MMSE is likely not sensitive enough to reveal these changes.…”