AEROBIC EXERCISE PROMOTES EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING AND ASSOCIATED FUNCTIONAL NEUROPLASTICITY

Abstract

Vascular cognitive ischaemia (VCI) is the second most common type of cognitive dysfunction worldwide and is due to cerebrovascular disease. While targeted aerobic exercise is a promising approach to delay the progression of VCI by reducing cardiometabolic risk factors, few randomized controlled trials to date have specifically assessed the efficacy of aerobic exercise on cognitive and brain outcomes in this high-risk group. Thus, the goal of this secondary analysis study was to examine the effect of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise training on executive functions and functional neural plasticity among older adults with mild subcortical ischaemic vascular cognitive impairment (SIVCI). Seventy-one older adults with mild SIVCI were randomly assigned to: 1) a 6-month, 3x/week aerobic training (AT; n=36) or usual care (CON; n=35). This secondary analysis included 21 (mean age 71.5 years) participants; 10 from AT group and 11 from CON group. All 21 participants completed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions at baseline and trial-completion. During the fMRI sessions, performance on the Eriksen flanker task and task-evoked neural activity were assessed. At trial completion, after adjusting for baseline MoCA, baseline total white matter lesion volume, and baseline performance, compared with the CON group, the AT group significantly improved flanker task performance. Moreover, compared with the CON, the AT group demonstrated reduced activation in the left lateral occipital cortex and right superior temporal gyrus. Reduced activity in these brain regions was significantly associated with improved (i.e., faster) flanker task performance at trial completion, suggesting aerobic training increased neural efficiency. Thus, aerobic training among older adults with mild SIVCI can improve executive functions and neural efficiency of associated brain areas.