Understanding the inflammatory mechanisms behind the impact of cognitive training on healthy ageing

英国总人口正在老龄化，65岁以上人口的比例预计将在2046年达到24.7%(英国国家统计局，2017)。因此，保护老年人的认知、心理和身体健康的研究比以往任何时候都更加及时。健康老龄化与记忆力和语言等认知能力下降有关(Lara等人。精神健康，如抑郁症(Age UK，2016)和身体健康普遍下降(McPhee等人，2016)。随着年龄的增长，白介素6(IL-6)等生物标记物的全身性炎症也会发生，这也是一个‘炎症’的过程(Franceschi等人。2007)。认知训练先前已被证明可以改善抑郁症状(Nouchi等人，2016年)、认知(Ball等人，2002年)和日常生活活动(Willis等人，2006年)。我们的项目旨在确定认知训练可以在多大程度上缓解与年龄相关的认知、身体和智力下降，以及它是否由炎症调节。我们的目标是在一项干预研究中确定这些益处，并阐明一些潜在的机制。已经证实，体育活动干预会影响炎症(Wood等人，2012年)。此外，正念训练被认为可以通过减少应激反应来影响神经过程和免疫功能(Davidson等人，2003)。认知训练对身体和免疫系统可能有类似的影响，因此我们假设认知训练的好处是通过炎症的好处来调节的。该项目涉及三个主要目标：1)在健康老年人的横断面样本中，建立炎症与认知(记忆、语言和处理速度)、心理(抑郁和焦虑)和身体(平衡和握力)健康之间的关系；2)在随机控制干预设计中，确定认知训练计划对认知、心理和身体健康的好处，以减少炎症为中介；3)研究干预后3个月认知训练的长期益处。如果认知训练计划在改善认知的同时确实有益于免疫功能、身体健康和心理健康，这对未来关于健康老龄化和如何在变老时保持健康的保健建议具有重要意义。此外，它还介绍了评估未来干预建议的基准，特别是在老年人的心理健康方面，因为老年人获得心理健康设施的机会往往得不到优先考虑(Age UK，2016)。变老是生活中不可避免的事实，随着老年人口的增加，保持身心健康变得越来越重要。

The UK's general population is ageing, with the percentage of those over 65 expected to reach 24.7% in 2046 (ONS, 2017). Research into preserving cognitive, mental and physical health in older adults is therefore timelier than ever. Healthy ageing is associated with declines in cognition such as memory and language (Lara et al. 2015 and Segaert et al., 2018), mental health such as depression (Age UK, 2016) and general declines in physical health (McPhee et al., 2016). A process of 'inflammaging' also takes place, as systemic inflammation of biomarkers such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6) occurs with age (Franceschi et al. 2007). Cognitive training has previously been demonstrated to benefit depressive symptoms (Nouchi et al., 2016), cognition (Ball et al., 2002), and activities of daily living (Willis et al., 2006). Our project is aimed at establishing the extent to which cognitive training can alleviate age-related cognitive, physical and mental decline, and whether it is mediated by inflammaging. We aim to establish these benefits in an intervention study as well as elucidate some of the underlying mechanisms. It is already established that physical activity interventions affect inflammaging (Woods et al., 2012). Moreover, mindfulness training is suggested to influence neural processes and immune function by reducing the stress response (Davidson et al., 2003). Cognitive training could have similar effects on the body and immune system, and so we hypothesise that the benefits of cognitive training are mediated by benefits of inflammaging.The project involves three main aims:1) Establish the relationship between inflammaging and cognitive (memory, language and processing speed), mental (depression and anxiety) and physical (balance and grip strength) health, in a cross-sectional sample of healthy older adults; 2) Determine the benefits of a cognitive training programme for cognitive, mental and physical health, as mediated by reduced inflammaging, in a randomized-controlled intervention design; 3) Study the long-term benefits of cognitive training 3 months past intervention.If a cognitive training programme does benefit immune function, physical health and mental health alongside improved cognition, this is significant for future healthcare advice about healthy ageing and how to remain healthy as we get older. It furthermore informs on benchmarks to evaluate future intervention proposals, especially in mental health in the elderly, as access to mental health facilities for older adults is often under-prioritised (Age UK, 2016). Growing old is an unavoidable fact of life, and with a growing elderly population, keeping healthy in both body and mind is becoming increasingly important.