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Byun K, Hyodo K, Suwabe K, Fukuie T, Ha MS, Damrongthai C, Kuwamizu R, Koizumi H, Yassa MA, Soya H. Mild exercise improves executive function with increasing neural efficiency in the prefrontal cortex of older adults. GeroScience 2024; 46:309-325. [PMID: 37318716 PMCID: PMC10828372 DOI: 10.1007/s11357-023-00816-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023] Open
Abstract
This study examined whether a 3-month mild-exercise intervention could improve executive function in healthy middle-aged and older adults in a randomized control trial. Ultimately, a total of 81 middle-aged and older adults were randomly assigned to either an exercise group or a control group. The exercise group received 3 months of mild cycle exercise intervention (3 sessions/week, 30-50 min/session). The control group was asked to behave as usual for the intervention period. Before and after the intervention, participants did color-word matching Stroop tasks (CWST), and Stroop interference (SI)-related reaction time (RT) was assessed as an indicator of executive function. During the CWST, prefrontal activation was monitored using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). SI-related oxy-Hb changes and SI-related neural efficiency (NE) scores were assessed to examine the underlying neural mechanism of the exercise intervention. Although the mild-exercise intervention significantly decreased SI-related RT, there were no significant effects of exercise intervention on SI-related oxy-Hb changes or SI-related NE scores in prefrontal subregions. Lastly, changes in the effects of mild exercise on NE with advancing age were examined. The 81 participants were divided into two subgroups (younger-aged subgroup [YA], older-aged subgroup [OA], based on median age [68 years.]). Interestingly, SI-related RT significantly decreased, and SI-related NE scores in all ROIs of the prefrontal cortex significantly increased only in the OA subgroup. These results reveal that a long-term intervention of very light-intensity exercise has a positive effect on executive function especially in older adults, possibly by increasing neural efficiency in the prefrontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyeongho Byun
- Sport Neuroscience Division, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance (ARIHHP), Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
- Division of Sport Science; Sport Science Institute & Health Promotion Center, College of Arts & Physical Education, Incheon National University, Yeonsu, Incheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Kazuki Hyodo
- Physical Fitness Research Institute, Meiji Yasuda Life Foundation of Health and Welfare, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan
- Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Kazuya Suwabe
- Sport Neuroscience Division, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance (ARIHHP), Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
- Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, Ryutsu Keizai University, Ryugasaki, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Takemune Fukuie
- Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Min-Seong Ha
- Sport Neuroscience Division, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance (ARIHHP), Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
- Department of Sports Science, College of the Arts and Sports, University of Seoul, Dongdaemun, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Chorphaka Damrongthai
- Sport Neuroscience Division, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance (ARIHHP), Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
- Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Ryuta Kuwamizu
- Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Hikaru Koizumi
- Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Michael A Yassa
- Sport Neuroscience Division, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance (ARIHHP), Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
| | - Hideaki Soya
- Sport Neuroscience Division, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance (ARIHHP), Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
- Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
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Richter A, Soch J, Kizilirmak JM, Fischer L, Schütze H, Assmann A, Behnisch G, Feldhoff H, Knopf L, Raschick M, Schult A, Seidenbecher CI, Yakupov R, Düzel E, Schott BH. Single‐value scores of memory‐related brain activity reflect dissociable neuropsychological and anatomical signatures of neurocognitive aging. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:3283-3301. [PMID: 36972323 PMCID: PMC10171506 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Memory-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activations show age-related differences across multiple brain regions that can be captured in summary statistics like single-value scores. Recently, we described two single-value scores reflecting deviations from prototypical whole-brain fMRI activity of young adults during novelty processing and successful encoding. Here, we investigate the brain-behavior associations of these scores with age-related neurocognitive changes in 153 healthy middle-aged and older adults. All scores were associated with episodic recall performance. The memory network scores, but not the novelty network scores, additionally correlated with medial temporal gray matter and other neuropsychological measures including flexibility. Our results thus suggest that novelty-network-based fMRI scores show high brain-behavior associations with episodic memory and that encoding-network-based fMRI scores additionally capture individual differences in other aging-related functions. More generally, our results suggest that single-value scores of memory-related fMRI provide a comprehensive measure of individual differences in network dysfunction that may contribute to age-related cognitive decline.
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Upright NA, Baxter MG. Prefrontal cortex and cognitive aging in macaque monkeys. Am J Primatol 2021; 83:e23250. [PMID: 33687098 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2020] [Revised: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive impairments that accompany aging, even in the absence of neurodegenerative diseases, include deficits in executive function and memory mediated by the prefrontal cortex. Because of the unique differentiation and expansion of the prefrontal cortex in primates, investigations of the neurobiological basis of cognitive aging in nonhuman primates have been particularly informative about the potential basis for age-related cognitive decline in humans. We review the cognitive functions mediated by specific subregions of prefrontal cortex, and their corresponding connections, as well as the evidence for age-related alterations in specific regions of prefrontal cortex. We also discuss evidence for similarities and differences in the effects of aging on prefrontal cortex across species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas A Upright
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Mark G Baxter
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
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