“…Lifestyle factors have a striking ability to empower the adult brain -strengthening plasticity, building cognitive reserve, and preventing functional decline. Physical activity in particular has emerged as a powerful life-style factor that can improve cognitive function Buchman et al, 2008;Erickson et al, 2010;Erickson et al, 2011;Kramer and Erickson, 2007a, b;Smith et al, 2010;Stubbs et al, 2017;Suwabe et al, 2018), reduce the risk of age-associated cognitive decline and AD (Buchman et al, 2012;Erickson et al, 2012;Hillman et al, 2008;Kirk-Sanchez and McGough, 2014;Korol et al, 2013;Prakash et al, 2015;Weuve et al, 2004;Yaffe et al, 2001), counteract age-and AD-related losses of grey and white matter (Baker et al, 2010;Best et al, 2017;Bherer et al, 2013;Erickson et al, 2014;Lautenschlager et al, 2008;Okonkwo et al, 2014;Suzuki et al, 2012;Voss et al, 2013;Zlatar et al, 2015) and counteract age-and AD-related declines in cognitive neural network function (Colcombe et al, 2004;Huang et al, 2016;Voss et al, 2010). While the benefits of physical activity are evident, the underlying mechanisms by which physical activity supports brain function and health and slows Aging-and AD-related declines in the human brain are poorly understood.…”