What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Cross-Sectional. Population: Healthy low-fit older adults (n=88). Intervention: Physical activity (accelerometry). Primary outcome: White matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume (pr -0.31, p=0.004).

What does this research mean for the field?

Greater moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is associated with a lower volume of white matter lesions in healthy, low-fit older adults. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.SUPPORTS_CONSENSUS.

September 17, 2014PLoS ONE162 citationsOpen Access

Physical Activity and Cardiorespiratory Fitness Are Beneficial for White Matter in Low-Fit Older Adults

ABAgnieszka Z. Burzynska LCLaura Chaddock‐Heyman MVMichelle W. Voss

Key Result

Greater moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associated with lower volume of white matter lesions (pr -0.31) in healthy, low-fit older adults.

Study Design

Type

Cross-Sectional (n=88)

Multicenter

Structured PICO

Does physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness improve white matter integrity in healthy low-fit older adults?

Population

88 community-dwelling healthy, low-fit older adults (age 60-78). Key inclusion: free from psychiatric and neurological illness, no history of stroke or transient ischemic attack, MMSE >=27.

Intervention

Objective measurement of physical activity (sedentary, light, moderate-to-vigorous) via accelerometry over 7 days, and cardiorespiratory fitness (peak oxygen consumption) via treadmill test.

Outcome

White matter integrity measured by white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume on T2-weighted MRI and fractional anisotropy (FA) on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).surrogate

Objective measures of physical activity demonstrate that engaging in moderate-to-vigorous activity and avoiding sedentariness are associated with better white matter microstructural integrity and fewer lesions in older adults.

Main Result

Effect estimate: pr -0.31

p-value: p=0.004

Limitations

Cross-sectional design precludes causal inferences
Narrow range of cardiorespiratory fitness in the sample
TBSS approach may have a bias for excluding voxels affected by WMH from FA analyses

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are associated with better cognitive function in late life, but the neural correlates for these relationships are unclear. To study these correlates, we examined the association of both PA and CRF with measures of white matter (WM) integrity in 88 healthy low-fit adults (age 60-78). Using accelerometry, we objectively measured sedentary behavior, light PA, and moderate to vigorous PA (MV-PA) over a week. We showed that greater MV-PA was related to lower volume of WM lesions. The association between PA and WM microstructural integrity (measured with diffusion tensor imaging) was region-specific: light PA was related to temporal WM, while sedentary behavior was associated with lower integrity in the parahippocampal WM. Our findings highlight that engaging in PA of various intensity in parallel with avoiding sedentariness are important in maintaining WM health in older age, supporting public health recommendations that emphasize the importance of active lifestyle.

问 AI

Bookmark

View Full Paper