Impact on cerebral cortical thickness of lifestyle multidomain intervention: The SUPERBRAIN study

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundIn the South Korean study to prevent cognitive impairment and protect brain health through lifestyle intervention in at‐risk elderly people (SUPERBRAIN), we explored impact on cortical thickness of 24‐week facility‐based multidomain intervention (FMI) and home‐based MI (HMI).MethodA total of 152 participants, aged 60‐79 years without dementia but with ≥ 1 modifiable dementia risk factor, were randomly assigned to the FMI, HMI, or control groups. Among them, 55 participants (20 FMI, 19 HMI, and 16 control) took brain MRIs at baseline and 24 weeks. We compared between each intervention and control groups in change of global/regional mean cortical thickness at 76 region‐of‐interest (ROI)s of the automated anatomical labelling (AAL); the total scale index score of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS); and Serum brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels. The changes in mean cortical thickness were compared using analysis of covariance with age, sex, education, and scan centers as covariates. ROI‐based analysis was controlled for multiple comparisons with a false discovery rate threshold of P < 0.05.ResultComparing with the control group, the total scale index score of RBANS was more significantly improved in both FMI group (p=0.002) and HMI group (p=0.013), respectively. The serum BDNF more significantly increased only in the FMI group (p=0.029). Mean global cortical thickness more significantly increased only in the FMI group (0.033±0.070 vs ‐0.003±0.040, p=0.035). ROI‐based analysis showed more significantly increased cortical thickness of the orbital, medial, medial orbital parts of right superior frontal gyrus, right olfactory cortex, right rectal gyrus, right anterior cingulate and paracingulate gyri, right middle temporal gyrus, medial orbital and dorsolateral parts of the left superior frontal gyrus, the orbital part of the left middle frontal gyrus, left middle occipital gyrus, and left middle temporal gyrus in the FMI group.ConclusionSignificant differences between the FMI and control groups on changes in cortical thicknesses in at‐risk elderly without substantial impairment in the SUPERBRAIN suggest that group preventive strategies at the facility may be beneficial on cognition through structural neuroplastic changes in the brain areas which play a crucial role in processing social information.