Vascular cognitive ischaemia (VCI) is the second most common type of cognitive dysfunction worldwide and is due to cerebrovascular disease. While targeted aerobic exercise is a promising approach to delay the progression of VCI by reducing cardiometabolic risk factors, few randomized controlled trials to date have specifically assessed the efficacy of aerobic exercise on cognitive and brain outcomes in this high-risk group. Thus, the goal of this secondary analysis study was to examine the effect of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise training on executive functions and functional neural plasticity among older adults with mild subcortical ischaemic vascular cognitive impairment (SIVCI). Seventy-one older adults with mild SIVCI were randomly assigned to: 1) a 6-month, 3x/week aerobic training (AT; n=36) or usual care (CON; n=35). This secondary analysis included 21 (mean age 71.5 years) participants; 10 from AT group and 11 from CON group. All 21 participants completed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions at baseline and trial-completion. During the fMRI sessions, performance on the Eriksen flanker task and task-evoked neural activity were assessed. At trial completion, after adjusting for baseline MoCA, baseline total white matter lesion volume, and baseline performance, compared with the CON group, the AT group significantly improved flanker task performance. Moreover, compared with the CON, the AT group demonstrated reduced activation in the left lateral occipital cortex and right superior temporal gyrus. Reduced activity in these brain regions was significantly associated with improved (i.e., faster) flanker task performance at trial completion, suggesting aerobic training increased neural efficiency. Thus, aerobic training among older adults with mild SIVCI can improve executive functions and neural efficiency of associated brain areas.
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机译:血管性认知缺血(VCI)是全球第二大最常见的认知功能障碍类型,归因于脑血管疾病。有针对性的有氧运动是通过降低心脏代谢风险因素来延缓VCI进展的一种有前途的方法,但迄今为止,很少有随机对照试验明确评估了有氧运动对这一高风险人群的认知和脑结局的功效。因此,本次分析研究的目的是研究中等强度的有氧运动训练对患有轻度皮层下缺血性血管性认知障碍(SIVCI)的老年人的执行功能和功能神经可塑性的影响。将71名患有轻度SIVCI的老年人随机分配给:1)6个月,每周3x /周的有氧训练(AT; n = 36)或常规护理(CON; n = 35)。该次要分析包括21名(平均年龄71.5岁)参与者; AT组10个,CON组11个。所有21名参与者在基线和试验完成时均完成了功能磁共振成像(fMRI)会议。在功能磁共振成像会议期间,评估了埃里克森侧翼任务的表现和任务诱发的神经活动。在试验完成时,在调整了基线MoCA,基线总白质病变量和基线表现后,与CON组相比,AT组显着改善了侧翼任务的表现。而且,与CON相比,AT组的左侧枕叶皮层和右侧颞上回的激活减少。在试验完成时,这些大脑区域活动的减少与侧翼任务性能的改善(即更快)显着相关,这表明有氧训练可提高神经效率。因此,对患有轻度SIVCI的老年人进行有氧训练可以改善相关大脑区域的执行功能和神经效率。
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