Benefits of Physical Exercise on the Aging Brain: The Role of the Prefrontal Cortex

Abstract

Motor planning in older adults likely relies on the overengagement of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and is associated with slowness of movement and responses. Does a physically active lifestyle counteract the overrecruitment of the PFC during action preparation? This study used high-resolution electroencephalography to measure the effect of physical exercise on the executive functions of the PFC preceding a visuomotor discriminative task. A total of 130 participants aged 15–86 were divided into two groups based on physical exercise participation. The response times and accuracy and the premotor activity of the PFC were separately correlated with age for the two groups. The data were first fit with a linear function and then a higher order polynomial function. We observed that after 35–40 years of age, physically active individuals have faster response times than their less active peers and showed no signs of PFC hyperactivity during motor planning. The present findings show that physical exercise could speed up the response of older people and reveal that also in middle-aged people, moderate-to-high levels of physical exercise benefits the planning/execution of a response and the executive functions mediated by the PFC, counteracting the neural overactivity often observed in the elderly adults.

Long-term habitual physical activity is associated with lower distractibility in a Stroop interference task in aging: Behavioral and ERP evidence

“…As outlined above, the CNV and pre-movement potentials are lower in physically active persons (Hillman et al, 2002;Kamijo, O'Leary, Pontifex, Themanson, & Hillman, 2010;Berchicci et al, 2013) and the Ne/ERN indexing error detection was found to be reduced in physically active individuals , but see Themanson, Pontifex, & Hillman, 2008).…”

“…In contrast, in two cross-sectional studies Hillman, Weiss, Hagberg, and Hatfield (2002) and Kamijo, O'Leary, Pontifex, Themanson, and Hillman (2010) found smaller CNVs in physically fit compared to low active individuals, suggesting less effort and a higher preparatory efficiency in physically active persons. In the same vein, in a cross-sectional study, Berchicci et al (2013) found smaller MRCPs in physically active than low active older adults.…”

“…For example, in a longitudinal correlational study of about 1400 participants aged 19-94 years, Wendell et al (2014) found that neuropsychological performance was positively associated with maximum oxygen consumption after controlling for confounding factors as covariates. Using a cross-sectional design, Berchicci, Lucci, and Di Russo (2013) investigated movement-related cortical potentials (MRCPs) in a sample of 130 participants between 16 and 86 years of age, divided into regularly physically active and low active groups. They found faster responses and shorter latency of MRCPs in the physically active than in the low active individuals.…”

Beyond the “Bereitschaftspotential”: Action preparation behind cognitive functions

“…al 1995;Jahanshahi et al, 1995;Jenkins et al, 2000: Di Russo et al, 2005Berchicci et al, 2012aBerchicci et al, , 2013b; however, the BP can be recorded also locking the ERP to stimulus onset if a long pre-stimulus interval (1000-1200 ms) is used (Berchicci et al, ,b, 2016Perri et al, 2014bPerri et al, , 2015a.…”

Serum folate, vitamin B12 and cognitive impairment in Chilean older adults

“…Low folate and vitamin B 12 intakes are associated with failed synthesis, transcription and integrity of DNA due to the lower production of purines, especially thymidine. This would also decrease DNA methylation, which is important not only for gene expression but also for epigenetic mechanisms that contribute to demyelination and the exchange of monoamines in depression (2) . Previous research described the beneficial effects of folate supplementation under conditions of cognitive impairment (4,7) .…”