Aging Brain Structure and Memory in Response to Exercise

NCT ID: NCT03855475

Last Updated: 2024-05-14

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 36 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2019-03-01
• Study Completion Date: 2024-03-31

Brief Summary

This study will measure brain structure through its mechanical properties, assessed with magnetic resonance elastography, and determine whether it improves with aerobic exercise in older adults with low memory abilities. Additionally, this study will determine if memory abilities improve with exercise and if they are related to brain structure. Overall, this project has the potential to identify how brain health is impacted by exercise in older adults.

Detailed Description

Mechanical properties of the human brain, measured with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), reflect the health of brain tissue. Our previous research has shown that these mechanical properties of the hippocampus are highly sensitive to memory function in young adults. Based on these findings, we believe that these mechanical properties may be strong indicators of memory health in older adults and populations experiencing decline in memory function (i.e. mild cognitive impairment, MCI). Further, our results indicate these properties and associated functions are positively impacted by fitness and exercise training, thus making them potentially ideal markers for brain health in assessing rehabilitation.

The objective of this research is to examine these properties in older adults with and without MCI. We will do the following: (1) determine if there are differences in mechanical properties of memory systems in older adults with and without MCI; (2) establish structure-function relationships between mechanical properties and memory performance in the older adult population; and (3) determine if both mechanical properties and memory performance are impacted by cardiovascular health, both through cross-sectional assessment of aerobic fitness and longitudinal response to exercise training.

Conditions

Mild Cognitive Impairment

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Aerobic exercise

Exercise training

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Aerobic exercise

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will complete 12 weeks of supervised aerobic exercise, 3 times per week, on a treadmill or stationary bicycle

Stretching

Control

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Stretching

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will complete 12 weeks of supervised stretching, 3 times per week

Interventions

Aerobic exercise

Participants will complete 12 weeks of supervised aerobic exercise, 3 times per week, on a treadmill or stationary bicycle

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Stretching

Participants will complete 12 weeks of supervised stretching, 3 times per week

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Cognitive function scores consistent with amnestic mild cognitive impairment based on pre-screening evaluation
• age 60-90 years
• MMSE score >24 at time of initial consent

Exclusion Criteria

• major psychiatric disorder (e.g. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression within past two years)
• neurological or autoimmune conditions affecting cognition (e.g. Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, head trauma with loss of consciousness greater than 30 min, large vessel infarct)
• other systemic medical illnesses (e.g. cardiovascular disease, cancer, renal failure, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, liver diseases, hypertension)
• current medication use likely to affect CNS functions (e.g. long active benzodiazepines)
• failed outcome on the baseline graded exercise test
• hypertension (systolic 130+ mmHg OR diastolic 80+ mmHg) from baseline blood pressure measurement
• claustrophobia, metal implants, pacemaker or other factors affecting feasibility and/or safety of MRI scanning
• concussion within last 2 years and more than 3 lifetime concussions
• current smoking (including marijuana) within the past 3 months

• Minimum Eligible Age: 60 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 90 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Christiana Care Health Services

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Delaware

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Curtis L Johnson, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Delaware

Locations

University of Delaware

Newark, Delaware, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

R01AG058853

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

1256861

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id