Study Finds Brain Connectivity, Memory Improves in Older Adults After Walking

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Posted this month in Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease ReportsThe study examined the brain and story-remembering abilities of older adults with normal brain function and those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, which is a slight decline in mental abilities such as memory, reasoning, and judgment and a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.

“Historically, the brain networks we studied in this research show deterioration over time in people with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease,” said J. Carson Smith, a professor of kinesiology in the School of Public Health and the study’s principal investigator. “They become disconnected, and as a result, people lose the ability to think clearly and remember things. We are showing that physical training strengthens these connections.”

The study builds on Smith’s previous research, which showed how walking can decrease cerebral blood flow and improve brain function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.

Thirty-three participants, ranging in age from 71 to 85, walked under supervision on a treadmill four days a week for 12 weeks. Before and after this exercise regimen, the researchers asked the participants to read a short story and then repeat it aloud with as much detail as possible.

The participants also underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) so that the researchers could measure changes in communication within and between the three brain networks that control cognitive function:

• default mode network – It is activated when a person is not doing a specific task (think daydreaming about the shopping list) and is connected to the hippocampus, one of the first brain regions affected by Alzheimer’s disease. It’s also where Alzheimer’s and amyloid plaques, a prime suspect for Alzheimer’s disease found around nerve cells, show up on tests.
• frontoparietal network — Regulates the decisions that are made when a person is completing a task. It also involves memory.
• prominence network — Monitors the external world and stimuli and then decides what deserves attention. It also makes it easy to switch between networks to optimize performance.

After 12 weeks of exercise, the researchers repeated the tests and observed significant improvements in the participants’ ability to recall stories.

“Brain activity was stronger and more synchronized, showing that exercise can actually induce the brain’s ability to change and adapt,” Smith said. “These results provide even more hope that exercise may be useful as a way to prevent or help stabilize people with mild cognitive impairment and perhaps, in the long term, delay their conversion to Alzheimer’s dementia.”

The researchers also observed stronger activity within the default mode network, within the salience network, and in the connections between the three networks.