Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with enhanced hippocampal functional connectivity in healthy young adults

Stillman, Chelsea M.; Uyar, Fatma; Huang, Haiqing; Grove, George; Watt, Jennifer C.; Wollam, Mariegold E.; Erickson, Kirk I.

doi:10.1002/hipo.22827

Cited by 47 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(65 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Higher CRF, both in cross‐sectional and interventional studies, has been linked to greater activation (Herting & Nagel, ) and connectivity within large‐scale networks such as the default mode network and frontal executive network (Voss et al, ; Voss, Prakash, et al, ). Lastly, higher CRF in young adults has been associated with greater resting state functional connectivity specifically between the prefrontal cortex and the anterior, but not posterior hippocampus (Stillman et al, ). Future studies are needed to investigate differential effects of CRF and improving CRF on connectivity between hippocampal subregions and other regions of the brain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving fitness increases dentate gyrus/CA3 volume in the hippocampal head and enhances memory in young adults

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Converging evidence suggests a relationship between aerobic exercise and hippocampal neuroplasticity that interactively impacts hippocampally dependent memory.The majority of human studies have focused on the potential for exercise to reduce brain atrophy and attenuate cognitive decline in older adults, whereas animal studies often center on exercise-induced neurogenesis and hippocampal plasticity in the dentate gyrus (DG) of young adult animals. In the present study, initially sedentary young adults (18-35 years) participated in a moderate-intensity randomized controlled exercise intervention trial (ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT02057354) for a duration of 12 weeks. The aims of the study were to investigate the relationship between change in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) as determined by estimated _ VO 2MAX , hippocampally dependent mnemonic discrimination, and change in hippocampal subfield volume.Results show that improving CRF after exercise training is associated with an increased volume in the left DG/CA3 subregion in young adults. Consistent with previous studies that found exercise-induced increases in anterior hippocampus in older adults, this result was specific to the hippocampal head, or most anterior portion, of the subregion. Our results also demonstrate a positive relationship between change in CRF and change in corrected accuracy for trials requiring the highest level of discrimination on a putative behavioral pattern separation task. This relationship was observed in individuals who were initially lower-fit, suggesting that individuals who show greater improvement in their CRF may receive greater cognitive benefit. This work extends animal models by providing evidence for exercise-induced neuroplasticity specific to the neurogenic zone of the human hippocampus.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving fitness increases dentate gyrus/CA3 volume in the hippocampal head and enhances memory in young adults

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, exercise is known to have regionally-specific effects on brain structure and function (Baek, 2016;Erickson, Leckie, & Weinstein, 2014). Thus, it may be the case that studies of functional connectivity in aging are actually underestimating the effects of exercise on network integrity since task-specific networks, or those centering specifically on exercise-sensitive regions, have not been examined in late life samples (but see Stillman et al, 2018 for a relevant study in younger adults).…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exercise, Fitness and the Aging Brain: A Review of Functional Connectivity in Aging

Stillman

Donofry

Erickson³

2019

AOP

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aging is associated with changes in brain structure and function with some brain regions showing more age-related deterioration than others. There is evidence that regional changes in brain structure and function may affect the functioning of other, less- age-sensitive brain regions and lead to more global changes in brain efficiency and cognitive functioning. Fortunately, emerging evidence from health neuroscience suggests that age-related brain changes and associated cognitive declines may not be inevitable. In fact, they may even be reversible. Exercise is a particularly promising health behavior known to induce changes in regional brain structure and function in older adults. However, much less is known about how exercise affects the organization of brain networks in late life. The purpose of this review is to summarize what is known to date regarding the relationships between functional connectivity, exercise, fitness, and physical activity in aging. A critical summary of this literature may reveal novel mechanisms by which physical activity influences brain health, which in turn may be leveraged to improve other aspects of functioning, including physical, cognitive, and mental health in late life.

show abstract

“…For example, Burdette et al () demonstrated that the HC of older adults exhibits greater functional connectivity with the anterior cingulate cortex after exercise training. Additionally, Stillman et al () demonstrated that greater CRF is associated with greater functional connectivity of the anterior HC with the frontal pole extending to the middle frontal gyrus in young adults. When considered alongside the animal models of aerobic exercise and hippocampal plasticity, reviewed above, these studies suggest a possible role for the HC in driving CRF‐related modulation of large‐scale functional network connectivity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiorespiratory fitness predicts effective connectivity between the hippocampus and default mode network nodes in young adults

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rodent and human studies examining the relationship between aerobic exercise, brain structure, and brain function indicate that the hippocampus (HC), a brain region critical for episodic memory, demonstrates striking plasticity in response to exercise.Beyond the hippocampal memory system, human studies also indicate that aerobic exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are associated with individual differences in large-scale brain networks responsible for broad cognitive domains. Examining network activity in large-scale resting-state brain networks may provide a link connecting the observed relationships between aerobic exercise, hippocampal plasticity, and cognitive enhancement within broad cognitive domains. Previously, CRF has been associated with increased functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN), specifically in older adults. However, how CRF relates to the magnitude and directionality of connectivity, or effective connectivity, between the HC and other DMN nodes remains unknown. We used resting-state fMRI and conditional Granger causality analysis (CGCA) to test the hypothesis that CRF positively predicts effective connectivity between the HC and other DMN nodes in healthy young adults.Twenty-six participants (ages 18-35 years) underwent a treadmill test to determine CRF by estimating its primary determinant, maximal oxygen uptake (VO 2max ), and a 10-min resting-state fMRI scan to examine DMN effective connectivity. We identified the DMN using group independent component analysis and examined effective connectivity between nodes using CGCA. Linear regression analyses demonstrated that CRF significantly predicts causal influence from the HC to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and lateral temporal cortex and to the HC from the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. The observed relationship between CRF and Corey A. Kronman and Kathryn L. Kern share the first authorship.

show abstract

Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with enhanced hippocampal functional connectivity in healthy young adults

Cited by 47 publications

References 43 publications

Improving fitness increases dentate gyrus/CA3 volume in the hippocampal head and enhances memory in young adults

Improving fitness increases dentate gyrus/CA3 volume in the hippocampal head and enhances memory in young adults

Exercise, Fitness and the Aging Brain: A Review of Functional Connectivity in Aging

Cardiorespiratory fitness predicts effective connectivity between the hippocampus and default mode network nodes in young adults

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About