Getting active in midlife may boost brain resilience to Alzheimer’s

Staying active in your 40s and 50s can help your brain to resist early changes from Alzheimer’s, especially if you follow who activity recommendations, this study finds.

Study: Changes of physical activity during midlife link to brain integrity and amyloid burden. Image Credit: Goodluz / Shutterstock

Published in a recent article in the magazine Alzheimer and dementiaResearchers investigated how changes in physical activity during midlife can influence brain changes related to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in persons with a higher risk of developing the disease.

Their findings indicate that becoming physically active at the level that was recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) was associated with reduced amyloid burden in the brain, and both become and remain active, even less than recommended levels, were linked to a greater cortical thickness in areas that are vulnerable. Conversely, the remaining sitting was involved in reduced cortical thickness in areas that are vulnerable to AD.

Background

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) starts with a long pre-clinical phase characterized by early brain changes, such as neurodegeneration and amyloid-β (AP) structure, which can be detected for years by biomarkers for years before the symptoms begin to occur.

Researchers believe that up to one third of the cases are linked to modifiable lifestyle factors, and there is an increasing interest in advertising prevention due to behavioral changes, in particular physical activity.

Sedentary behavior is a well -known risk factor for dementia, while it has been shown that Midlife’s physical activity reduces the risk of ad and cognitive decline. This can be through paths such as improved mental and cardiovascular health.

Midlife is a crucial period because age-related brain changes and ad-pathologies often start, especially in people with a genetic or family risk. Although earlier studies have demonstrated cross-sectional connections between physical activity and reduced AD biomarkers, few investigated how changes in activity levels-in particular compliance with WHO recommendations-the progression of advertising-related changes in risk individuals influence.

About the study

In this study, researchers have assessed a critical research gap by investigating whether an increase in physical activity, including therapy compliance with WHO guidelines, are associated with lower Aβ-load and a better brain structure in cognitively undamaged adult adults that risk AD.

They analyzed data from 337 cognitive non -transmitted participants in Catalonia from a larger study into the disease of Prlinical Alzheimer’s (AD). Participants, between 45 and 65 years old and usually with a family history of AD, had collected physical activity data at the start (2013-2014) and follow-up (about 4 years later). Only those with MRI and/or amyloid-PET data were included in follow-up.

Physical activity was assessed with the help of a questionnaire that registered the weekly minutes of moderate or powerful activity. Participants were grouped on the basis of compliance with the WHO guidelines for physical activity at both times: maintained sedentary, maintained non-compliance, became close, was not adhesive and maintained compliance. A continuous measure for activity change was also calculated.

Brain Amyloid burden was rated by Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Imaging and cortical thickness in AD-sensitive areas was measured using structural magnetic resonance image formation (MRI). The AD signing region was defined with the help of a composition of medial temporal lobe areas that are vulnerable to early ad-atrophy.

Statistical models investigated how physical activity group and changes in activity amyloid load and cortical thickness predicted in follow-up, adaptation of age, gender, education, apolipoprotein e (apo) -ε4 status and the time between reviews.

Sensitivity analyzes were also checked for cardiovascular and mental health factors such as symptoms of depression and fear.

It is worth noting that the results of the brain image formation were only measured in follow-up, so causality cannot be firmly determined. Moreover, 99.4% of the participants were white, which limits the generalization of the results to other populations.

Findings

Participants were categorized in five groups based on compliance with the WHO guidelines for physical activity. Almost 30% remained sitting, while 15.7% adheres to their treatment. Those who were pending showed the biggest increase in the minutes of physical activity. There were no significant group differences for age, education, gender or apoe-ε4 status.

Participants who maintained sedentary behavior had a considerably lower cortical thickness in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) -sensitive brain areas than those who are full of or attach, or even those who were non -adhesive but not sitting. Moreover, those who attach to a significantly lower amyloid-β (AP) had a burden than those who became non-stinging, a finding that remained statistically significant, even after correction for multiple comparisons. The difference in amyloid burden between those who became adherent and those who remained sedentary was also present, but less robust.

A dose response association was found, with increased physical activity that correlated with a lower Aβ load; However, this dose -dependent effect was not observed for cortical thickness. These results remained largely robust after correction for cardiovascular risk and scores for mental health, although some associations with cortical thickness after these adjustments were weakened.

Conclusions

The study reveals that increased or persistent physical activity during the Midlife is associated with a lower Aβ load and a larger cortical thickness in ad-filled brain areas, which underlines potential neuroprotective effects.

Even partial compliance with activity guidelines (ie non-adhesive but not sedentary) seemed favorable. A dose -dependent relationship between increased activity and reduced AP supports this link.

Strengths of this analysis include longitudinal design, biomarking data and adjustment for confounders. However, the study is limited by the observational nature of the research design, limited ethnic diversity, the use of self-reported physical activity and the inability to exclude reverse causal connection as a result of brain results that are only measured with follow-up. Potential uninhibited mediators, such as sleep or neurogenesis, were not assessed either.

In general, the findings suggest that adopting the WHO advocate physical activity during midlife can improve resilience against early ad-pathology, even in people who are at risk.