Exercise, aging, and cognition: Effect and mechanisms

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议研究的目标是调查两组人（25-40岁和50-65岁的年轻人和老年人）体力活动的认知影响。绝大多数对人类的控制性运动研究仅限于老年人，通常为65岁及以上。然而，早期干预可能更有利于预防或减缓与年龄相关的变化。对老年人的运动研究表明，增强有氧能力对认知，特别是执行控制过程有有益的影响。然而，受益的特定认知领域可能在年轻人和老年人中有所不同，因为老年人最敏感的领域是那些受衰老影响的领域。在拟议的6个月随机干预研究中，这两个年龄组中的260名久坐但其他方面健康且认知完整的个体将随机分为两个治疗组，有氧运动和拉伸/调理。运动对多个认知领域的潜在影响将通过标准认知评估和计算机化认知任务进行检查。此外，将在基线和6个月时进行3个水平的神经影像学研究：结构MRI（灰质密度）、静息CBF（动脉自旋标记）和认知激活fMRI研究。我们假设：1）与拉伸/调整条件相比，有氧运动将在认知测量方面产生改善的表现; 2）无论年龄如何，都会注意到认知改善，尽管老年组中的认知改善更大; 3）在有氧条件下，年轻和年长的参与者，对于利用执行控制过程的任务，如设置切换和工作记忆，与其他认知领域相比; 4）任务表现的改善将伴随着灰质密度的增加，以及功能磁共振成像研究中测量的大脑网络效率的提高。在多个层次上的运动效果的拟议分析将产生重要的见解的神经机制的有益影响的运动。因为它可能有助于预防或延缓认知老化，运动改善年轻受试者认知的可能性对公共卫生具有巨大的潜在意义。 公共卫生相关性：来自动物和人类研究的证据强烈表明，有氧运动对认知有有益的影响，但对照研究仅限于老年人。这项研究的目的是将有氧运动的有益影响的调查扩展到25-40岁和50-65岁的年轻人。早期干预可能更有利于预防而不是逆转与年龄有关的变化。因此，运动改善年轻受试者认知能力的可能性对公共卫生具有巨大的潜在意义。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the proposed study is to investigate the cognitive effects of physical activity in two groups - young and older adults - aged 25-40 and 50-65. The great majority of controlled exercise studies in humans have been restricted to elderly individuals, typically age 65 and up. However, earlier intervention may be more beneficial for preventing or slowing age-related changes. Exercise studies in older adults have indicated that enhancing aerobic capacity has a beneficial effect on cognition, particularly executive control processes. However, the specific cognitive domains that are benefited may differ in younger and older individuals, since the most responsive domains in elders are those affected by aging. In the proposed 6-month randomized intervention study, 260 sedentary but otherwise healthy and cognitively intact individuals in these two age groups will be randomized into two treatment arms, aerobic exercise and stretching / toning. The potential effect of exercise on multiple cognitive domains will be examined with standard cognitive evaluations and computerized cognitive tasks. In addition, 3 levels of neuroimaging studies: structural MRI (for gray matter density), resting CBF (arterial spin labeling) and cognitive activation fMRI studies will be conducted at baseline and 6 months. We hypothesize that: 1) in comparison to the stretching / toning condition, aerobic exercise will produce improved performance on measures of cognition; 2) cognitive improvement will be noted regardless of age, although it will be greater in the older group; 3) in both younger and older participants in the aerobic condition, improvement will be more notable for tasks that tap executive control processes, such as set switching and working memory, compared to other cognitive domains; 4) improved in task performance will be accompanied by increased gray matter density, and increased efficiency of brain networks measured in fMRI studies. The proposed analysis of exercise effects at multiple levels will yield important insights onto the neural mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of exercise. Because it may help prevent or delay cognitive aging, the possibility that exercise improves cognition in younger subjects has enormous potential significance for public health. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Evidence from animal and human studies strongly suggests that aerobic exercise has a beneficial effect on cognition, but controlled studies have been restricted to elderly individuals. The goal of the proposed study is to extend the investigation of the beneficial effects of aerobic exercise to younger individuals, aged 25-40 and 50-65. Earlier intervention may be more beneficial for preventing, as opposed to reversing, age related changes. Therefore, the possibility that exercise improves cognition in younger subjects has enormous potential significance for public health.