The following is a summary of the “‘Physical activity levels and brain structure in middle-aged and older adults: a bidirectional longitudinal population-based study,” published in the January 2023 issue of Neurobiology of Aging by Hofman, et al.

It has been hypothesized that upping one’s level of physical activity can help preserve or even boost one’s brain’s cognitive abilities as one age. However, most of the research done until now has been of the cross-sectional variety, meaning it needs to consider time and reverse causality. Their research examined the 2-way connections between physical activity and brain structure in middle-aged and older adults. Physical activity and brain structure were evaluated at one of two points in time (‘baseline’: 2006-2012 or ‘follow-up’: 2012-2017, median duration between visits: 5 years) among 4,365 participants (64.01 ± 10.82 years; 56% women) from the Rotterdam Study. 

The LASA Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to determine the level of exercise. Brain volumes and white matter microstructure were measured with T1-weighted MRI and diffusion tensor imaging. To estimate directional associations, we used cross-lagged panel models, and to look into the reliability of our results, we used linear mixed-effects models. Gray matter volume (β= 0.063, 95% CI 0.031;0.096, p_FDR = 0.002), white matter volume (β= 0.051, 95% CI 0.020;0.083, p_FDR = 0.013), and total brain volume (β = 0.067, 95% CI 0.035;0.099, p_FDR = 0.001) were all significantly larger in athletes with higher levels of sports at follow-up. Higher levels of walking at follow-up were connected to lower global mean diffusivity at baseline (β = -0.074, -0.111;-0.037, p_FDR = 0.001). 

There was no correlation between how active a person was at the start of the study and how their brain functioned later on. In conclusion, higher physical activity levels at follow-up were linked to larger brain volumes and white matter microstructure at baseline. In conclusion, this research found that older adults with a possible advanced brain aging status were more likely to become physically inactive over time, making them prime candidates for future efforts to curb this trend through preventative measures and creative interventions.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197458022002081