Abstract
This study explored the effects of exercise with either high cognitive load or low cognitive load on cognitive performance and neuroplasticity in healthy elderly. Twenty-eight sedentary community-dwelling seniors participated in this study. Participants were assigned to one of three groups: the control group (C), low-cognitive load exercise group (LE), or high-cognitive load exercise group (HE). Individuals in both exercise groups engaged in moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for 4 months. Resting-state functional MRI and diffusion MRI were used to investigate the effects of intervention on functional and structural connectivity, respectively. Analysis of covariance with baseline, age and the education year as covariates was used to determine the effects of intervention. We found 4 months of exercise with high-cognitive load, but not exercise with low-cognitive load, improved the overall cognitive function of healthy elderly. Additionally, the HE group showed increased resting-state functional connectivity of superior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex and decreased functional connectivity of middle occipital gyrus and postcentral gyrus. The age-related alterations in local efficiency and betweenness were protected by exercise. Our findings might suggest that exercise with greater cognitive load likely results in greater training effects on cognition and brain connectivity than exercise requiring lower cognitive loads for healthy elderly.
Highlights
Aging, which results in progressive decline in several functions after adulthood, has a pervasive and complex influence on physiology, cognition, and physical activity, and it has become a global issue in modern society
One participant in the highcognitive load exercise group (HE) group withdrew in the first month of training due to kidney stone surgery, and the other participant withdrew due to frequent colds
No significant difference was observed in the attendance rate of exercise training between the HE and load exercise group (LE) groups (P = 0.21)
Summary
Aging, which results in progressive decline in several functions after adulthood, has a pervasive and complex influence on physiology, cognition, and physical activity, and it has become a global issue in modern society. Because of the association between age-related cognitive decline and cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, diabetes, and obesity), aerobic exercise that improves cardiovascular fitness and metabolic function has been proposed as an intervention to alleviate or even reverse age-related cognitive decline [3]. Interventional studies have provided inconsistent findings regarding the effects of aerobic exercise on the cognitive function of elderly people. Some studies have found that exercise improves the cognitive function of elderly people [4, 5], whereas others have found no differences in cognitive function between control and exercise intervention groups [6]. Meta-analyses have demonstrated that aerobic exercise increases the cognitive function of healthy senior adults, the increase is not significant when compared with that in the control group [7, 8]. Intensity, frequency, and duration all potentially influence training effects
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