Aerobic exercise increases hippocampal volume in older women with probable mild cognitive impairment: a 6-month randomised controlled trial.
Lisanne F ten Brinke, Niousha Bolandzadeh, Lindsay S Nagamatsu, Chun Liang Hsu, Jennifer C Davis, Karim Miran-Khan, Teresa Liu-Ambrose
Author Information
Lisanne F ten Brinke: Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Niousha Bolandzadeh: Department of Physical Therapy, UBC, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Lindsay S Nagamatsu: Department of Psychology, UBC, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Chun Liang Hsu: Department of Physical Therapy, UBC, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Jennifer C Davis: Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, UBC, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Karim Miran-Khan: Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, UBC, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Teresa Liu-Ambrose: Department of Physical Therapy, UBC, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, UBC, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
BACKGROUND: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a well-recognised risk factor for dementia and represents a vital opportunity for intervening. Exercise is a promising strategy for combating cognitive decline by improving brain structure and function. Specifically, aerobic training (AT) improved spatial memory and hippocampal volume in healthy community-dwelling older adults. In older women with probable MCI, we previously demonstrated that resistance training (RT) and AT improved memory. In this secondary analysis, we investigated: (1) the effect of RT and AT on hippocampal volume and (2) the association between change in hippocampal volume and change in memory. METHODS: 86 women aged 70-80 years with probable MCI were randomly assigned to a 6-month, twice-weekly programme of: (1) AT, (2) RT or (3) balance and tone training (BAT; ie, control). At baseline and trial completion, participants performed a 3T MRI scan to determine hippocampal volume. Verbal memory and learning were assessed by Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test. RESULTS: Compared with the BAT group, AT significantly improved left, right and total hippocampal volumes (p≤0.03). After accounting for baseline cognitive function and experimental group, increased left hippocampal volume was independently associated with reduced verbal memory and learning performance as indexed by loss after interference (r=0.42, p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Aerobic training significantly increased hippocampal volume in older women with probable MCI. More research is needed to ascertain the relevance of exercise-induced changes in hippocampal volume on memory performance in older adults with MCI. TRAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00958867.
