2023-05-28 15:00:41
A new study from the University of Maryland School of Public Health reveals how walking strengthens connections within and between three brain networks, including one associated with Alzheimer’s disease, adding to growing evidence that exercise improves brain health.
Published this month in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reportsthe study looked at the brain and story-remembering abilities of older people with normal brain function and those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, which is a mild decline in mental abilities like memory, reasoning, and judgment and a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.
“Historically, the brain networks we studied in this research show deterioration over time in people with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease,” said J. Carson Smith, professor of kinesiology at the School of Public Health and principal investigator of the study. “They become disconnected and as a result people lose their ability to think clearly and remember things. We demonstrate that physical training strengthens these bonds.”
The study builds on Smith’s previous research, which showed how walking can decrease cerebral blood flow and improve brain function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.
Thirty-three participants, aged 71 to 85, walked under supervision on a treadmill four days a week for 12 weeks. Before and after this exercise program, the researchers asked participants to read a short story and then repeat it aloud with as much detail as possible.
Participants also underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) so researchers could measure changes in communication within and between the three brain networks that control cognitive function:
- Network in default mode – Activates when a person is not doing a specific task (think dreaming of the shopping list) and is connected to the hippocampus – one of the first regions of the brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease. It’s also where Alzheimer’s disease and amyloid plaques, a prime suspect for Alzheimer’s disease found around nerve cells, show up in tests.
- Frontoparietal network — Regulates the decisions made when a person performs a task. It also involves memory.
- Salience network — Monitors the outside world and stimuli, then decides what deserves attention. It also facilitates switching between networks to optimize performance.
After 12 weeks of exercise, the researchers repeated the tests and found significant improvements in the participants’ story recall abilities.
“Brain activity was stronger and more synchronized, demonstrating that exercise can in fact induce the brain’s ability to change and adapt,” Smith said. “These findings provide further hope that exercise may be useful in preventing or helping stabilize people with mild cognitive impairment and perhaps, in the long term, delaying their conversion to Alzheimer’s dementia.”
The researchers also observed stronger activity within the default mode network, within the salience network, and in the connections between the three networks.
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