Fitness and cognition in the elderly

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether greater cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with better global and domain-specific cognitive function. Methods:We investigated 877 participants (aged 65 6 7 years, 55% women) of the Austrian Stroke Prevention Study. For cardiorespiratory fitness, the maximum oxygen consumption (VȮ 2 max) was calculated based on weight and maximum and resting heart rate on a treadmill test (mL$kg 21 $min 21 ). A test battery assessing memory (Bäumler's Lern-und Gedächtnistest), executive function (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Trail Making Test-Part B, Digit Span Backward, Alters Konzentrationstest, a computerized complex reaction time task) and motor skills (Purdue Pegboard Test) was administered. Summary measures for cognitive domains and for global cognition were calculated. White matter lesions, lacunes, and brain atrophy were assessed using MRI.Results: Higher VȮ 2 max was associated with better global (B 5 0.024; p 5 0.000) and domainspecific cognitive function (memory B 5 0.026, p 5 0.000; executive function B 5 0.009, p 5 0.003; motor skills B 5 0.012, p 5 0.018) after adjustment for age, sex, education years, and Ca 21 channel antagonists or b-blockers. White matter lesions, lacunes, or brain atrophy did not mediate the effect (p . 0.05 for all mediators). The interactions of VȮ 2 max with age, overweight, and APOE e4 on cognition were not statistically significant (p . 0.05 for all interaction terms) with the exception of a modulating effect of body mass index on VȮ 2 max in the memory domain. Conclusions:Higher VȮ 2 max is associated with better global cognitive function and with better performance in the cognitive domains of memory, executive function, and motor skills in the middle-aged and elderly. The association is not mediated by the presence of white matter lesions, lacunes, and brain atrophy. LGT 5 Lern-und Gedächtnistest; TE 5 echo time; TR 5 repetition time; VȮ 2 max 5 maximum oxygen consumption; WML 5 white matter lesion.Physical activity 1 and cardiorespiratory fitness 2 have been previously associated with cognitive function in the elderly, and the reduction of Alzheimer and Parkinson disease risk.3 Nevertheless, there is a substantial amount of variability in the results linking cognitive performance to physical activity because of heterogeneity in the assessments across the studies. 4 While physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness are intertwined, their relationships with cognitive performance may be distinct from another. Cardiorespiratory fitness is frequently assessed as the maximum oxygen consumption (VȮ 2 max), which progressively declines with age, 5 but can be increased by prolonged exercise even in the elderly. 6 Cross-sectional observational studies in the elderly found a protective effect of VȮ 2 max on memory 7 and executive function. 8 Similarly, exercise interventional trials improving VȮ 2 max reported improvements in executive function 9 and short-term memory. 10 The mechanism linking higher VȮ 2 max to cognition is, however, not well und...

Leukocyte Telomere Length Is Related to Brain Parenchymal Fraction and Attention/Speed in the Elderly: Results of the Austrian Stroke Prevention Study

“…The measures of the cognitive performance were converted into z-scores by normalizing to the mean of the group. G-factor, which is the first unrotated component of 1 SIENEX, part of FMRIB Software Library; https://fsl.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/fsl/fslwiki/ principal component analysis performed on the results of the battery of cognitive tests, was used as a measure of global cognition (17).…”

Multiple-modality exercise and mind-motor training to improve cardiovascular health and fitness in older adults at risk for cognitive impairment: A randomized controlled trial

“…Likewise, two studies noticed a superior improvement in aerobic capacity in older adults who underwent ST. (Brentano et al, 2008;Vincent et al, 2002) A higher cardiac output, characterized by an augmentation in blood flow, associated with increased capitalization and improvements in respiratory chain function, are considered possible mechanisms by which AE training leads to improvement in VO2max. (Freudenberger et al, 2016) , (Bassett & Howley, 2000) Also, several physiological adaptations to ST may be accounted for improvements in aerobic capacity in older adults, such as augmentation of capillary density, myoglobin concentration, mitochondria content and enzyme activity in the working muscle. (Brentano et al, 2008;Cadore et al, 2010;Ozaki et al, 2013;Phillips et al, 2012) These physiological adaptations may lead to increase in arterial-venous oxygen difference (a-vO2), which associated with elevated exercise-induced blood flow, are the key-factors that of STinduced improvements in VO2max.…”

“…Huang et al, 2015;Lakka et al, 2003;Vanhees, De Sutter, et al, 2012;Vanhees, Rauch, et al, 2012) and it is inversely associated with healthy cognitive functioning. (Freudenberger et al, 2016) In the past decades, several studies have reported a positive relationship between high physical activity levels and improved arterial compliance (i.e., increased arterial elasticity). (Cameron & Dart, 1994;Cameron, Rajkumar, Kingwell, Jennings, & Dart, 1999;Otsuki et al, 2006;Tanaka et al, 2000Tanaka et al, , 1998 Regular aerobic-based exercise is a nonpharmacological strategy that seems to attenuate and partially reverse age-induced arterial stiffening by increasing arterial compliance (Cameron & Dart, 1994;Lu, Hui-Chan, & Tsang, 2013a, 2013bMaeda et al, 2008;Miyaki et al, 2009;Nickel, Acree, & Gardner, 2011;Parnell, Holst, & Kaye, 2002;Seals, Desouza, Donato, & Tanaka, 2008;Sugawara et al, 2009;Sugawara, Inoue, Hayashi, Yokoi, & Kono, 2004;Tanaka et al, 2000;Vanhees, Rauch, et al, 2012;Villareal, Smith, Sinacore, Shah, & Mittendorfer, 2011) and VO2max,(G. Huang et al, 2015;Vanhees, De Sutter, et al, 2012;Vanhees, Rauch, et al, 2012) thereby, leading to improved health outcomes.…”

Relationships between cardiorespiratory fitness, hippocampal volume, and episodic memory in a population at risk for Alzheimer's disease

“…In older adults, CRF has been reported to be positively associated episodic memory (Etnier et al., 2007; Hayes, Forman, & Verfaellie, 2016; Zhu et al., 2014), while others have not observed such associations in similar populations (Bugg et al., 2012; Maass et al., 2015). Moreover, both self‐reported physical activity (Pizzie et al., 2014) and estimated fitness (Boots et al., 2014; Freudenberger et al., 2016) have been shown to be positively associated with episodic memory in older adulthood.…”