Effective strategies for promoting healthy brain aging and preventing Alzheimer's disease (AD) are increasingly important given the unprecedented growth of the elderly population and the resulting increase in the prevalence of AD. Evidence suggests that exercise and cardiorespiratory (CR) fitness may protect against cognitive decline and loss of gray matter density in normal aging. Little is known about CR fitness in individuals with early AD and whether fitness influences AD progression. Additionally, the mechanisms mediating a relationship between CR fitness and brain health are relatively unexplored. Potential biological mechanisms for how fitness may preserve brain health include reduced cerebrovascular disease in those with higher levels of physical activity and a possible disease-modifying effect of exercise on AD neuropathological burden, as demonstrated in mouse models of the disease. Our overall hypothesis is that CR fitness will be associated with reduced AD progression. To examine our hypotheses, we are longitudinally assessing the gold-standard measure of CR fitness, peak oxygen consumption, over two years in early-stage AD subjects (n = 75). Baseline evaluations on this cohort will be complete by the anticipated date of funding when two-year follow-up evaluations will begin.
Aim 1 will examine the relationship between CR fitness (baseline and 2-year change) and clinical indicators of AD progression.
In aim 2, we will longitudinally assess the relationship of CR fitness with hippocampal volume, a surrogate marker of AD pathological burden, to examine the relationship between CR fitness and AD neuropathological progression.
In aim 3, we will assess the relationship between CR fitness and MRI-markers of vascular disease, including white matter lesion burden and infarcts.
While aims 1 and 2 test specific hypotheses concerning the influence of fitness on AD, aim 3 is an embedded exploration of alternative mechanisms that may form the basis of an association between AD and fitness. A clear demonstration of the beneficial effects of fitness on brain aging and AD would be important for public health policy and effective for encouraging the 40-50 million adults in the US who do not currently obtain the recommended amount of physical activity. ? ? ?
| Watts, Amber; Ferdous, Farhana; Moore, Keith Diaz et al. (2015) Neighborhood Integration and Connectivity Predict Cognitive Performance and Decline. Gerontol Geriatr Med 1: |
| Watts, Amber; Honea, Robyn A; Billinger, Sandra A et al. (2015) A combined measure of vascular risk for white matter lesions. J Alzheimers Dis 45:187-93 |
| Billinger, Sandra A; Vidoni, Eric D; Greer, Colby S et al. (2014) Cardiopulmonary exercise testing is well tolerated in people with Alzheimer-related cognitive impairment. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 95:1714-8 |
| Morris, J K; Vidoni, E D; Perea, R D et al. (2014) Insulin resistance and gray matter volume in neurodegenerative disease. Neuroscience 270:139-47 |
| Watts, Amber S; Vidoni, Eric D; Loskutova, Natalia et al. (2013) Measuring Physical Activity in Older Adults with and without Early Stage Alzheimer's Disease. Clin Gerontol 36:356-374 |
| Royall, Donald R; Palmer, Raymond F; Vidoni, Eric D et al. (2013) The default mode network may be the key substrate of depressive symptom-related cognitive changes. J Alzheimers Dis 34:547-59 |
| Vidoni, Eric D; Thomas, George P; Honea, Robyn A et al. (2012) Evidence of altered corticomotor system connectivity in early-stage Alzheimer's disease. J Neurol Phys Ther 36:8-16 |
| Burns, Jeffrey M; Honea, Robyn A; Vidoni, Eric D et al. (2012) Insulin is differentially related to cognitive decline and atrophy in Alzheimer's disease and aging. Biochim Biophys Acta 1822:333-9 |
| Vidoni, Eric D; Honea, Robyn A; Billinger, Sandra A et al. (2012) Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with atrophy in Alzheimer's and aging over 2 years. Neurobiol Aging 33:1624-32 |
| Royall, Donald R; Palmer, Raymond F; Vidoni, Eric D et al. (2012) The default mode network and related right hemisphere structures may be the key substrates of dementia. J Alzheimers Dis 32:467-78 |
Showing the most recent 10 out of 29 publications
