Kristian Steen Frederiksen1, Ana Verdelho2, Sofia Madureira2, Hansjörg Bäzner3, John T O'Brien4, Franz Fazekas5, Philip Scheltens6, Reinhold Schmidt5, Anders Wallin7, Lars-Olof Wahlund8, Timo Erkinjunttii9, Anna Poggesi10, Leonardo Pantoni10, Domenico Inzitari10, Gunhild Waldemar1. 1. Memory Disorders Research Group, Danish Dementia Research Center, Department of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. 2. Department of Neurosciences, University of Lisbon, Santa Maria Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal. 3. Department of Neurology, University of Heidelberg, Klinikum Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany. 4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Trust, Cambridge, UK. 5. Department of Neurology, Medical University Graz, Austria. 6. Department of Neurology, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 7. Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden. 8. Department of Clinical Neuroscience, NEUROTEC, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. 9. Memory Research Unit, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland. 10. Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Physical activity reduces the risk of cognitive decline but may affect cognitive domains differently. We examined whether physical activity modifies processing speed, executive function and memory in a population of non-dementia elderly subjects with age-related white matter changes (ARWMC). METHODS: Data from the Leukoaraiosis And DISability (LADIS) study, a multicenter, European prospective cohort study aimed at examining the role of ARWMC in transition to disability, was used. Subjects in the LADIS study were clinically assessed yearly for 3 years including MRI at baseline and 3-year follow-up. Physical activity was assessed at baseline, and cognitive compound scores at baseline and 3-year assessment were used. RESULTS: Two-hundred-eighty-two subjects (age, y (mean (SD)): 73.1 (± 5.1); gender (f/m): 164/118); MMSE (mean (SD)): 28.3 (± 1.7)) who had not progressed to MCI or dementia, were included. Multiple variable linear regression analysis with baseline MMSE, education, gender, age, stroke, diabetes and ARWMC rating as covariates revealed that physical activity was associated with better scores at baseline and 3-year follow-up for executive function (baseline: β: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.13-0.90, p = 0.008; follow-up: β: 0.24, 95% CI: 0.10-0.38, p = 0.001) and processing speed (baseline: β: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.14-0.89, p = 0.005; follow-up: β: 0.15, 95% CI: 0.02-0.29, p = 0.02) but not memory. When including baseline cognitive score as a covariate in the analysis of 3-year follow-up scores, executive function remained significant (β: 0.11, 95% CI: 0-0.22, p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Our findings confirm previous findings of a positive effect of physical activity on cognitive functions in elderly subjects, and further extends these by showing that the association is also present in patients with ARWMC.
OBJECTIVES: Physical activity reduces the risk of cognitive decline but may affect cognitive domains differently. We examined whether physical activity modifies processing speed, executive function and memory in a population of non-dementia elderly subjects with age-related white matter changes (ARWMC). METHODS: Data from the Leukoaraiosis And DISability (LADIS) study, a multicenter, European prospective cohort study aimed at examining the role of ARWMC in transition to disability, was used. Subjects in the LADIS study were clinically assessed yearly for 3 years including MRI at baseline and 3-year follow-up. Physical activity was assessed at baseline, and cognitive compound scores at baseline and 3-year assessment were used. RESULTS: Two-hundred-eighty-two subjects (age, y (mean (SD)): 73.1 (± 5.1); gender (f/m): 164/118); MMSE (mean (SD)): 28.3 (± 1.7)) who had not progressed to MCI or dementia, were included. Multiple variable linear regression analysis with baseline MMSE, education, gender, age, stroke, diabetes and ARWMC rating as covariates revealed that physical activity was associated with better scores at baseline and 3-year follow-up for executive function (baseline: β: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.13-0.90, p = 0.008; follow-up: β: 0.24, 95% CI: 0.10-0.38, p = 0.001) and processing speed (baseline: β: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.14-0.89, p = 0.005; follow-up: β: 0.15, 95% CI: 0.02-0.29, p = 0.02) but not memory. When including baseline cognitive score as a covariate in the analysis of 3-year follow-up scores, executive function remained significant (β: 0.11, 95% CI: 0-0.22, p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Our findings confirm previous findings of a positive effect of physical activity on cognitive functions in elderly subjects, and further extends these by showing that the association is also present in patients with ARWMC.
Authors: Lilah M Besser; Jana Hirsch; James E Galvin; John Renne; Juyoung Park; Kelly R Evenson; Joel D Kaufman; Annette L Fitzpatrick Journal: Health Place Date: 2020-10-10 Impact factor: 4.078
Authors: Lilah Besser; James E Galvin; Daniel Rodriguez; Teresa Seeman; Walter Kukull; Stephen R Rapp; Jennifer Smith Journal: Health Place Date: 2019-11-29 Impact factor: 4.078