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

Abstract

The present study was designed to examine whether different measures of physical fitness are differentially associated with white matter (WM) microstructure in older adults. Fifty-six healthy adults (mean age: 59.14 years) completed a standardized evaluation of physical fitness measurements (e.g., VO 2peak , push-ups, abdominal situps, sit-and-reach, t test, and vertical jump). Fractional anisotropy (FA), an index of WM microstructure, was assessed using diffusion tensor imaging. The findings indicated that the cardiorespiratory fitness was positively associated with FA in the right cingulum hippocampus and the left cerebral peduncle. However, other physical fitness metrics were not significantly associated with FA in any region. These results suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness, but not other metrics of fitness, might be sensitive to WM microstructure. K E Y W O R D Sfractional anisotropy, physical fitness, white matter microstructure 2 of 11 | CHEN Et al. Highlights Higher cardiorespiratory fitness is associatedwith greater fractional anisotropy (FA) in the right cingulum hippocampus and the left cerebral peduncle. 2. Other physical fitness metrics were not significantly associated with FA in any regions. 3. Cardiorespiratory fitness metrics might be more sensitive to white matter structure than other metrics of fitness. of 11 |

Effects of exercise types on white matter microstructure in late midlife adults: Preliminary results from a diffusion tensor imaging study

“…These findings demonstrate the beneficial effects for WM integrity associated with higher levels of aerobic fitness. Consistently, in our cross-sectional sample of late middle-aged adults (55-65 years), a positive association between aerobic fitness (VO 2peack ) and the FA value in the left cerebral peduncle was previously reported (Chen et al, 2020a). Previous studies have reported that several brain regions are sensitive to aerobic fitness, including the cingulum bundle, the corpus callosum, the anterior internal capsule, the fornix, and the anterior corona radiata (Johnson et al, 2012;Tseng et al, 2013;Hayes et al, 2015;Oberlin et al, 2016), and the present findings expand these associations to other regions, especially the cerebral peduncle and the uncinate fasciculus.…”

Aerobic exercise, cardiorespiratory fitness, and the human hippocampus

“…Furthermore, FA in the left cingulum partially mediated the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and spatial working memory, suggesting that WM integrity is a critical component in the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and elevated spatial memory performance. In healthy midlife to older adults, higher cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with higher FA in the right hippocampal segment of the cingulum and the left cerebral peduncle (F.-T. Chen, Erickson, et al, 2020). Similarly, in a sample of 15 older adults, Marks et al (2011) found that cardiorespiratory fitness explained 28.5% of the variance in FA in the left cingulum.…”

“…In healthy midlife to older adults, higher cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with higher FA in the right hippocampal segment of the cingulum and the left cerebral peduncle (F.‐T. Chen, Erickson, et al, 2020). Similarly, in a sample of 15 older adults, Marks et al (2011) found that cardiorespiratory fitness explained 28.5% of the variance in FA in the left cingulum.…”

Pathways explaining racial/ethnic and socio-economic disparities in brain white matter integrity outcomes in the UK Biobank study

“…Lifestyle factors have been more extensively studied in relation to dMRI outcomes without uncovering pathways between them. Using dMRI data on 56 healthy individuals, a study detected changes in hippocampus connected to cardiopulmonary fitness ( Chen et al, 2020 ). Using data from the Multidomain Approach for Preventive Trial phase III, researchers found that physical activity levels influence the white matter integrity, ( Maltais et al, 2020 ) findings corroborated by another recent study of healthy subjects ( Bashir et al, 2021 ).…”