Can exercise training teach us how to treat Alzheimer’s disease?

Temporal changes in personal activity intelligence and the risk of incident dementia and dementia related mortality: A prospective cohort study (HUNT)

“…This may be due to the beneficial effects of aerobic exercise on CRF, which is potentially a key target for improved brain health. 27 Considering the metabolic metric PAI (which is largely based on daily variations in heart rate) is strongly correlated with objectively measured CRF, 14 weekly PAI scores may complement, and improve, the WHO's recommendations for dementia prevention. The observation that a modest annual increase of just 10 PAI units is associated with a reduced risk of dementia (aHR, 0.89: 95% CI, 0.84–0.95) is consistent with previously obtained longitudinal data showing that a 1 MET increase in CRF over time reduces risk of incident dementia (aHR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.75–0.93).…”

An examination of the relationship among plasma brain derived neurotropic factor, peripheral vascular function, and body composition with cognition in midlife African Americans/Black individuals

“…For instance, traditional hallmark characteristics of AD such as tau phosphorylation, Aβ accumulation, neuroinflammation, and neuronal apoptosis have previously been associated with BDNF depletion ( Wang et al, 2019 ; Lourenco et al, 2020 ; Gao et al, 2022 ). Further, it has been suggested that increases in BDNF, perhaps via engagement of physical activity/exercise ( Swardfager et al, 2011 ; Anderson-Hanley et al, 2012 ; Huuha et al, 2022 ) and subsequent reduction of vascular risk factors, promote cognitive resilience by combating these associated consequences of AD ( Miranda et al, 2019 ; Ismail et al, 2020 ; Mori et al, 2021 ; Gao et al, 2022 ). In addition to AD, increased production of BDNF has been shown to benefit other neurocognitive conditions such as mild cognitive impairment ( Shimada et al, 2014 ; Ng et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin that plays a significant role in regulating neuroregeneration and neuroprotection ( Huuha et al, 2022 ). Further, it has emerged as a popular outcome variable in investigations examining the influence of exercise and/or pharmacological interventions aiming to improve brain health, likely due to its sensitivity to adjustments in modifiable risk factors and its dynamic interaction between neuro- and angiogenesis.…”

“…Outside of the central nervous system (e.g., glia cells and neurons), BDNF is commonly reported to be released from skeletal and vascular smooth muscle cells as well as endothelial cells ( Jodeiri Farshbaf and Alviña, 2021 ). In fact, a reduction in BDNF release from these cells is one of the hallmark physiological changes seen in neurodegenerative disorders, including AD ( Ismail et al, 2020 ; Lourenco et al, 2020 ; Huuha et al, 2022 ; Oudbier et al, 2022 ). Increases in BDNF, however, are a hypothesized mediating pathway of cognitive enhancement following habitual and acute physical activity ( Anderson-Hanley et al, 2012 ; Babaei et al, 2014 ; Fortune et al, 2019 ; Walsh et al, 2020 ; Ruiz-González et al, 2021 ; Umegaki et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Peripheral organ health is a key factor in terms of influencing overall brain health and function ( Pluvinage and Wyss-Coray, 2020 ; Winder et al, 2021 ; Huuha et al, 2022 ; Nelson, 2022 ; Oudbier et al, 2022 ; Saiyasit et al, 2022 ). In particular, numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of peripheral vascular health as it relates to the maintenance of cognitive function and prevention of neurodegeneration ( Csipo et al, 2019 ; Albrecht et al, 2020 ; Winder et al, 2021 ; Bailey et al, 2022 ; Nelson, 2022 ; Saiyasit et al, 2022 ), especially given the continued increase in prevalence of modifiable risk factors like obesity that (in)directly affect vascular function ( Kim and Kim, 2021 ; Koenen et al, 2021 ).…”