TY  - JOUR
A1  - Matura, Silke
A1  - Fleckenstein, Johannes
A1  - Deichmann, Ralf
A1  - Engeroff, Tobias
A1  - Füzéki, Eszter
A1  - Hattingen, Elke
A1  - Hellweg, Rainer
A1  - Lienerth, Bianca
A1  - Pilatus, Ulrich
A1  - Schwarz, Sina
A1  - Tesky, Valentina
A1  - Vogt, Lutz
A1  - Banzer, Winfried
A1  - Pantel, Johannes
T1  - Effects of aerobic exercise on brain metabolism and grey matter volume in older adults : results of the randomised controlled SMART trial
T2  - Translational Psychiatry
N2  - There is mounting evidence that aerobic exercise has a positive effect on cognitive functions in older adults. To date, little is known about the neurometabolic and molecular mechanisms underlying this positive effect. The present study used magnetic resonance spectroscopy and quantitative MRI to systematically explore the effects of physical activity on human brain metabolism and grey matter (GM) volume in healthy aging. This is a randomised controlled assessor-blinded two-armed trial (n=53) to explore exercise-induced neuroprotective and metabolic effects on the brain in cognitively healthy older adults. Participants (age >65) were allocated to a 12-week individualised aerobic exercise programme intervention (n=29) or a 12-week waiting control group (n=24). The main outcomes were the change in cerebral metabolism and its association to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels as well as changes in GM volume. We found that cerebral choline concentrations remained stable after 12 weeks of aerobic exercise in the intervention group, whereas they increased in the waiting control group. No effect of training was seen on cerebral N-acetyl-aspartate concentrations, nor on markers of neuronal energy reserve or BDNF levels. Further, we observed no change in cortical GM volume in response to aerobic exercise. The finding of stable choline concentrations in the intervention group over the 3 month period might indicate a neuroprotective effect of aerobic exercise. Choline might constitute a valid marker for an effect of aerobic exercise on cerebral metabolism in healthy aging.
KW  - Neuroscience
KW  - Psychology
Y1  - 2017
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/46548
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-465487
SN  - 2158-3188
N1  - This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
VL  - 7
IS  - 7, e1172
SP  - 1
EP  - 9
PB  - Nature Publishing Group
CY  - London
ER  -