Cerebral blood flow and arterial transit time responses to exercise training in older adults

Feron, Jack; Rahman, Foyzul; Fosstveit, Sindre H; Joyce, Kelsey E; Gilani, Ahmed; Lohne-Seiler, Hilde; Berntsen, Sveinung; Mullinger, Karen J; Segaert, Katrien; Lucas, Samuel J E

Abstract

Brain vascular health worsens with age, as is made evident by resting grey matter cerebral blood flow (CBFGM) reductions and lengthening arterial transit time (ATTGM). Exercise training can improve aspects of brain health in older adults, yet its effects on CBFGM and ATTGM remain unclear. This randomised controlled trial assessed responses of CBFGM and ATTGM to a 26 week exercise intervention in 65 healthy older adults (control: n = 33, exercise: n = 32, aged 60–81 years), including whether changes in CBFGM or ATTGM were associated with changes in cognitive functions. Multiple-delay pseudo-continuous arterial spin labelling data were used to estimate resting global and regional CBFGM and ATTGM. Results showed no between-group differences in CBFGM or ATTGM following the intervention. However, exercise participants with the greatest cardiorespiratory gains (n = 17; ∆V̇O2peak >2 mL/kg/min) experienced global CBFGM reductions (-4.0 [-7.3, -0.8] mL/100 g/min). Cognitive functions did not change in either group and changes were not associated with changes in CBFGM or ATTGM. Our findings indicate that exercise training in older adults may induce global CBFGM reductions when high cardiorespiratory fitness gains are induced, but this does not appear to affect cognitive functions.

Citation

Feron, J., Rahman, F., Fosstveit, S. H., Joyce, K. E., Gilani, A., Lohne-Seiler, H., Berntsen, S., Mullinger, K. J., Segaert, K., & Lucas, S. J. E. (2024). Cerebral blood flow and arterial transit time responses to exercise training in older adults. NeuroImage, 303, Article 120919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120919

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 4, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Nov 12, 2024
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Dec 4, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 4, 2024
• Journal: NeuroImage
• Print ISSN: 1053-8119
• Electronic ISSN: 1095-9572
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 303
• Article Number: 120919
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120919
• Keywords: Ageing; Cerebral blood flow; Arterial transit time; Exercise training; Cognitive function
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/41933704
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811924004166?via%3Dihub#sec0025
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Cerebral blood flow and arterial transit time responses to exercise training in older adults; Journal Title: NeuroImage; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120919; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.