Cardiorespiratory fitness and brain volume and white matter integrity

Abstract

Objective: We hypothesized that greater cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with lower odds of having unfavorable brain MRI findings. Methods:We studied 565 healthy, middle-aged, black and white men and women in the CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults) Study. The fitness measure was symptomlimited maximal treadmill test duration (Max dur ); brain MRI was measured 5 years later. Brain MRI measures were analyzed as means and as proportions below the 15th percentile (above the 85th percentile for white matter abnormal tissue volume).Results: Per 1-minute-higher Max dur , the odds ratio for having less whole brain volume was 0.85 (p 5 0.04) and for having low white matter integrity was 0.80 (p 5 0.02), adjusted for age, race, sex, clinic, body mass index, smoking, alcohol, diet, physical activity, education, blood pressure, diabetes, total cholesterol, and lung function (plus intracranial volume for white matter integrity). No significant associations were observed between Max dur and abnormal tissue volume or blood flow in white matter. Findings were similar for associations with continuous brain MRI measures.Conclusions: Greater physical fitness was associated with more brain volume and greater white matter integrity measured 5 years later in middle-aged adults. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), measured by treadmill duration, correlates with reduced cardiovascular diseases and overall mortality rates.

Phenotypic heterogeneity of obesity‐related brain vulnerability: one‐size interventions will not fit all

“…This idea is supported by results from the longitudinal Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, which reported that greater cardiorespiratory fitness at baseline is associated with greater total brain volume and greater white matter integrity 5 years later, when the participants were middle-aged adults. 138 As mentioned earlier, these results fit with exercise-related gains in cognitive function reported in exercise intervention studies with older adults. A comprehensive literature review by Hillman et al documented improvements in cognitive performance in individuals participating regularly in aerobic forms of exercise compared with sedentary and nonaerobic exercise (e.g., stretching) controls.…”

Total Brain and Hippocampal Volumes and Cognition in Older American Indians

“…39 Both animal models and findings in humans suggest that treatment of vascular risk factors and other comorbidities can modify hippocampal atrophy and reduce AD risk. 8,40 Treatment of vascular risk factors might therefore represent an important point of intervention. Notably, the present study could not determine the extent to which pathology leading to smaller brain volumes was related to AD or to vascular pathology.…”

The association between physical fitness parameters and white matter microstructure in older adults: A diffusion tensor imaging study

“…To date, studies that explored the association between the physical fitness and brain functioning have mainly focused on CRF (Bento‐Torres et al, ; Hayes, Hayes, Cadden, & Verfaellie, ; Johnson et al, ; McAuley et al, ; Oberlin et al, ; Prakash et al, ; Tian et al, ; Tseng et al, ; Wong et al, ; Zhu et al, ). However, physical fitness can be conceptualized as being composed of many subcomponents in addition to CRF (i.e., muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, agility, balance, and coordination) (Caspersen, Powell, & Christenson, ; Pate, ).…”