Midlife physical activity corresponds to a slow brain structure

Higher levels of leisure activity in mid-life were associated with less late brain damage on MRI, a prospective study suggested.

Compared with moderate to vigorous mid-life intense physical activity, high levels were associated with lower odds of lacunar infarction at the end of life (NO 0.68, 95% CI 0.46–0.99) and more incomplete white subject integrity, said Priya Palta, PhD, of Columbia University ‘s Irving Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues in Neurology.

“Our study suggests that getting at least an hour and 15 minutes of intense-vigorous physical activity a week or more during mid-life can be important throughout your life for promoting brain health and preserving the true structure of your brain, “Palta said in a statement.” In particular, it involved engaging in more than 2 and a half hours of physical activity each week. middle age associated with fewer symptoms of brain disease. “

Research on the effect of physical activity on brain measures or brain development has been mixed, with some studies showing benefit and some not. Leisure time physical activity has been reported to be the “most consistent evidence for the protective effect of physical activity against the risk of dementia, and it is unclear whether there is a benefit to other potentially less physical activities.” enrichment, ‘”Nicole Spartano, PhD, of Boston University School of Medicine, and Leonardo Pantoni, MD, PhD, of Milan University in Italy, said in an accompanying editorial.

“It is possible that future work will remove the need for physical activity interventions to have a rich element to reduce the risk of dementia, such as in leisure time activities, rather than being a hard rote. , a mechanical movement, “Spartano and Pantoni noted.

The study included 1,604 participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) group with an average baseline age of 54. Participants had five trials over 25 years and MRI at an average age of 72. At baseline line (1987–1989) and 25 years later, participants answered questions about their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in the past year, which were rated as one, low, medium, or high at each point. time. Activity was assessed by the modified Baecke questionnaire.

Over half (55%) of the group were female and 27% black. At mid-life, 34% of participants reported no moderate to moderate physical activity; Levels were low at 11% (1 to 74 minutes per week), 16% moderate levels (75 to 149 minutes per week), and 39% high levels (150 minutes per week or more).

Moderate to moderate median activity was strongly associated with improved white case integrity (average fractional anisotropy difference 0.13 per SD, 95% CI 0.004–0.26; mean average diffusion difference -0.11 per SD, 95% CI -0.21 to -0.004) in late life, compared with moderate to strong mid-life activity. Moderate to moderate activity was not strongly associated with gray matter measurement.

While odds of lacunar infarcts were lower with more intense midlife activity, odds of cortical infarcts or subcortical microhemorrhage were not. “Associations at higher levels of mid-life physical activity with fewer lacunar (but not cortical) infarcts and greater microstructural integrity of white matter suggest that cerebrovascular apparatus is largely at play,” Palta wrote and colleagues.

When decisions were adjusted for viral risk factors – hypertension, diabetes, BMI, and stroke – the relationship between mid-life physical activity and lacunar infarcts was reduced, but the relationship to microstructure of bright subject. This means that “evidence from this study supports the hypothesis that the mechanisms that link physical activity and the brain tend to be multifaceted, including mechanisms as well as simply improving cerebrovascular health, ”the editors said.

Late-moderate-to-active physical activity was also associated with most brain stages compared with moderate-to-vigorous activity, but as this was a prospective study spanning decades, the “link between mid-life and later-life levels of physical activity the features of brain imaging make a much stronger case for causation than the same relationship when measured just at the end of life,” -northward research.

The study had several limitations. It relied on self-report data and did not include physical activity as well as leisure time activity, such as work-related activity. Healthier participation across the study may have led to a study of healthier participants.