There are currently 14 million U.S Veterans over the age of 55 according to the 2010 U.S. Census. Research has indicated that motor declines begin to accelerate within this age group and beyond as does incidence of motor pathology. Aerobic exercise is currently under investigation for its potential in increasing cortical plasticity and offering improved outcome for rehabilitation of motor disorders. Exciting new studies (* denotes VA sponsored research) present the possibility that aerobic exercise may lead to significant improvements in upper extremity function (McGregor et al., 2009*; McGregor et al., 2011*; Voelcker-Rehage et al., 2010; Ploughman et al., 2008) in both aging and disease. However, the mechanisms by which fitness exerts its benefits have yet to be fully understood. New research has shown that upper extremity performance is associated with aging-related losses in interhemispheric inhibition (Bernard & Seidler, 2011; Fling & Seidler, in press; McGregor et al., 2009), which begins even in middle age. Our lab has recently shown that these changes may not be inevitable or immutable. New evidence indicates increased levels of physical fitness through aerobic activity may mitigate losses in interhemispheric inhibition and improve motor performance. This research proposes to enroll sedentary older Veterans into a program consisting of upper extremity behavioral training and regular engagement in physical activity. We hypothesize that motor performance will be linked to levels of interhemispheric inhibition (assessed by advanced neuroimaging) and both will improve over the course of our exercise intervention. We believe this research is critical to our understanding of normal motor organization and how it changes due to aging processes will inform our capability for reclamation of motor capacity due to neural pathology, as cortical activation patterns may vary according to biological age. The goal is that this work will eventually be applied to rehabilitation of motor deficits, which occur with increase incidence within and beyond middle age.

Public Health Relevance

This study aims to enroll sedentary older Veterans into a program of upper extremity training and physical activity. The study will provide Dr. McGregor with a strong mentorship vehicle with which he will progress towards independence as an VA-ORD scientist. We hypothesize that motor performance will be linked to levels of inter-hemispheric inhibition, and both will improve from the intervention, as will Veterans' functional independence The area of research described in the proposed CDA-2 has strong implications relevant to the rehabilitative needs of Veterans as it is an intervention designed to improve quality of life in multiple facets of Veterans civilia life. Therefore, this study has the potential to lead to efficacious interventions that can translae into improved quality of life for Veterans. Further, it will aid the continued development of Dr. McGregor and his strong commitment to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Veterans Affairs (VA)
Type
Veterans Administration (IK2)
Project #
5IK2RX000956-02
Application #
8977432
Study Section
Blank (RRD9)
Project Start
2013-01-01
Project End
2017-12-31
Budget Start
2014-01-01
Budget End
2014-12-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Veterans Health Administration
Department
Type
DUNS #
824835805
City
Decatur
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30033
McGregor, Keith M; Crosson, Bruce; Krishnamurthy, Lisa C et al. (2018) Effects of a 12-Week Aerobic Spin Intervention on Resting State Networks in Previously Sedentary Older Adults. Front Psychol 9:2376
Tran, Stella M; McGregor, Keith M; James, George Andrew et al. (2018) Task-residual functional connectivity of language and attention networks. Brain Cogn 122:52-58
Nocera, Joe; Crosson, Bruce; Mammino, Kevin et al. (2017) Changes in Cortical Activation Patterns in Language Areas following an Aerobic Exercise Intervention in Older Adults. Neural Plast 2017:6340302
Crosson, Bruce; Hampstead, Benjamin M; Krishnamurthy, Lisa C et al. (2017) Advances in neurocognitive rehabilitation research from 1992 to 2017: The ascension of neural plasticity. Neuropsychology 31:900-920
McGregor, Keith M; Crosson, Bruce; Mammino, Kevin et al. (2017) Influences of 12-Week Physical Activity Interventions on TMS Measures of Cortical Network Inhibition and Upper Extremity Motor Performance in Older Adults-A Feasibility Study. Front Aging Neurosci 9:422
Crosson, Bruce; McGregor, Keith M; Nocera, Joe R et al. (2015) The relevance of aging-related changes in brain function to rehabilitation in aging-related disease. Front Hum Neurosci 9:307
Hackney, Madeleine E; Lee, Ho Lim; Battisto, Jessica et al. (2015) Context-Dependent Neural Activation: Internally and Externally Guided Rhythmic Lower Limb Movement in Individuals With and Without Neurodegenerative Disease. Front Neurol 6:251
Zlatar, Zvinka Z; McGregor, Keith M; Towler, Stephen et al. (2015) Self-reported physical activity and objective aerobic fitness: differential associations with gray matter density in healthy aging. Front Aging Neurosci 7:5
Bohsali, Anastasia A; Triplett, William; Sudhyadhom, Atchar et al. (2015) Broca's area - thalamic connectivity. Brain Lang 141:80-8
McGregor, Keith M; Sudhyadhom, Atchar; Nocera, Joe et al. (2015) Reliability of negative BOLD in ipsilateral sensorimotor areas during unimanual task activity. Brain Imaging Behav 9:245-54

Showing the most recent 10 out of 15 publications