Abstract
We examined if physical exercise interventions were effective to reduce cognitive brain resources recruited while performing motor control tasks in older adults. Forty-three older adults (63–79 years of age) participated in either a walking (n = 17) or a motor coordination (n = 15) intervention (1 year, 3 times per week) or were assigned to a control group (n = 11) doing relaxation and stretching exercises. Pre and post the intervention period, we applied functional MRI to assess brain activation during imagery of forward and backward walking and during counting backwards from 100 as control task. In both experimental groups, activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during imagery of forward walking decreased from pre- to post-test (Effect size: −1.55 and −1.16 for coordination and walking training, respectively; Cohen’s d). Regression analysis revealed a significant positive association between initial motor status and activation change in the right DLPFC (R2 = 0.243, F(3,39) = 4.18, p = 0.012). Participants with lowest motor status at pretest profited most from the interventions. Data suggest that physical training in older adults is effective to free up cognitive resources otherwise needed for the control of locomotion. Training benefits may become particularly apparent in so-called dual-task situations where subjects must perform motor and cognitive tasks concurrently.
Highlights
It has been demonstrated that gait and balance are increasingly in need of cognitive control and supervision with advancing age (Hausdorff et al, 2005; Yogev-Seligmann et al, 2008; Berchicci et al, 2014; Van Swearingen and Studenski, 2014)
In a previous cross-sectional study, using motor imagery, we investigated with functional MRI brain activation in simple and complex walking tasks and analyzed if the motor status of older adults influenced these activation patterns
We examined the effects of 1 year of physical exercise interventions on brain activation in the same simple and complex walking tasks as in our previous cross-sectional study
Summary
It has been demonstrated that gait and balance are increasingly in need of cognitive control and supervision with advancing age (Hausdorff et al, 2005; Yogev-Seligmann et al, 2008; Berchicci et al, 2014; Van Swearingen and Studenski, 2014) Such need for a certain amount of cognitive resources for movement coordination or control in older adults (Loewenstein and Acevedo, 2010) has been indicated by expanded brain networks and increased brain activation while performing a single motor task as compared with young adults (for reviews see Seidler et al, 2010; Papegaaij et al, 2014; Hamacher et al, 2015). The resulting use of frontal cortical resources leads to lower cognitive and motor performance during dual-task situations in older adults (Kahnemann, 1973; Lindenberger et al, 2000; Huxhold et al, 2008; Malcolm et al, 2015)
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