Exercise and Hippocampal Structure and Function in Adolescents

描述(申请人提供)：在青春期，大脑经历了显著的成熟，因此被认为特别容易受到酒精的神经毒性影响。过去的研究表明，青春期大量饮酒与海马体结构、功能异常和认知障碍有关。与饮酒相反，有氧运动与改善认知能力有关，并已被证明对动物海马体的酒精有害影响具有神经保护作用。这些发现表明，运动可能对患有酒精使用障碍(AUD)的青少年的海马体有益。然而，由于很少有研究调查有氧健身对健康儿童和青少年的认知和大脑功能的影响，有必要首先确定在动物身上确立的锻炼的好处是否适用于人类青少年。因此，为了更好地了解运动如何影响青春期的大脑和行为，这项横断面研究将考察运动对海马体结构和功能以及认知的影响。具体地说，这项拟议的研究将使用动作图和有氧能力测试，以及功能和结构磁共振成像、神经心理测试和空间记忆评估来检查高活动和低活动男性青年的海马体结构和功能。了解运动对大脑的影响可能是确定动物文献中报告的运动诱导的可塑性如何转化到人类的第一步，并最终可能允许开发旨在减少AUD青少年认知缺陷的策略。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): During adolescence the brain undergoes significant maturation, and thus is thought to be especially vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of alcohol. Past research has shown that heavy alcohol use during adolescence is associated with abnormal hippocampal structure, function, and impaired cognition. In contrast to alcohol use, aerobic exercise has been linked with improved cognition, and has been shown to be neuroprotective against the detrimental effects of alcohol on the hippocampus in animals. These findings suggest exercise may be beneficial to the hippocampus in youth with alcohol use disorders (AUD). However, since little research has investigated the impact of aerobic fitness on cognition and brain function in healthy children and teens, it is necessary to first determine if the benefits of exercise established in animals translate to human adolescents. Thus, to better understand how exercise may influence the brain and behavior during adolescence, this cross- sectional study will examine the impact of exercise on hippocampal structure and function, as well as cognition. Specifically, the proposed study will use actigraphy and aerobic capacity testing, as well as functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging, neuropsychological testing, and spatial memory assessment to examine hippocampal structure and function in high-active and low-active male youth. Understanding how exercise impacts the brain may be the first step in determining how exercise-induced plasticity reported in the animal literature may translate to humans and may ultimately permit the development of strategies aimed at reducing cognitive deficits that are seen in adolescents with AUD.