Abstract
Brain adverse structural changes, especially the atrophy of gray matter, are inevitable in aging. Fortunately, the human brain is plastic throughout its entire life. The current cross-section study aimed to investigate whether long-term Tai Chi exercise could slow gray matter atrophy and explore the possible links among gray matter volume (GMV), long-term Tai Chi experience and emotional stability in a sequential risk-taking task by using voxel-based morphometry. Elders with long-term Tai Chi experience and controls, who were matched to Tai Chi group in age, gender, physical activity level, participated in the study. A T1-weighted multiplanar reconstruction sequence was acquired for each participant. Behaviorally, the Tai Chi group showed higher meditation level, stronger emotional stability and less risk-taking tendency in the sequential risk-taking compared to the control group. Moreover, the results revealed that the GMV of the thalamus and hippocampus were larger in the Tai Chi group compared with the control group. Notably, the GMV of the thalamus was positively correlated with both meditation level and emotional stability. The current study suggested the protective role of long-term Tai Chi exercise at slowing gray matter atrophy, improving the emotional stability and achieving successful aging for elders.
Highlights
One type of the most mentioned brain adverse structural changes is gray matter atrophy, which is considered as inevitable in normal aging (Csernansky et al, 2004; Braak and Braak, 2010; Walhovd et al, 2011; Oh et al, 2014)
After adjusting for age, gender, educational years and total intracranial volume (TIV), the comparisons between the two groups showed that the gray matter volume (GMV) of left thalamus (MNI −17 −15 0) and left hippocampus (MNI −21 −9 −17) were larger in the Tai Chi group than that of control group (Figure 2 and Table 2)
The results found that the thalamus GMV was positively correlated with Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) score (r = 0.38, p < 0.01)
Summary
One type of the most mentioned brain adverse structural changes is gray matter atrophy, which is considered as inevitable in normal aging (Csernansky et al, 2004; Braak and Braak, 2010; Walhovd et al, 2011; Oh et al, 2014). The atrophy is not invariably global, as age-related structural change is notable for regional differences. Many researches revealed that the thalamus and hippocampus are related to affective response regulation as well as play an important and fundamental role in emotional stability (Davidson et al, 2000; Newberg et al, 2001; Newberg and Iversen, 2003). Gray matter atrophy in the thalamus and hippocampus regions might be the challenge for elders to retain emotional stability (Luders et al, 2009).
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