Effects of a brief HIIT intervention on cognitive performance in older women.
Amani M NorlingAdam T GersteneckerMark S BoldingLawrence Ver HoefThomas W BufordRandall WaldenHongyu AnChunwei YingTerina MyersBenjamin S JonesVictor A Del BeneRonald M LazarPublished in: GeroScience (2023)
Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) mitigates age-related decline in cognition and brain volume. Little is known, however, about the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on cognitive aging and the relationship between HIIT, cognition, hippocampal subfield volumes, and cerebral oxygen extraction fraction (OEF). Older sedentary women participated in an 8-week HIIT intervention. We conducted cognitive assessments, fitness assessments (VO 2 max), MRI scans: asymmetric spin echo oxygen extraction fraction (ASE-OEF), high-resolution multiple image co-registration and averaging (HR-MICRA) imaging, and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography before and after the intervention. VO 2 max increased from baseline (M = 19.36, SD = 2.84) to follow-up (M = 23.25, SD = 3.61), Z = - 2.93, p < .001, r = 0.63. Composite cognitive (Z = - 2.05, p = 0.041), language (Z = - 2.19, p = 0.028), and visuospatial memory (Z = - 2.22, p = 0.026), z-scores increased significantly. Hippocampal subfield volumes CA1 and CA3 dentate gyrus and subiculum decreased non-significantly (all p > 0.05); whereas a significant decrease in CA2 (Z = - 2.045, p = 0.041, r = 0.436) from baseline (M = 29.51; SD = 24.50) to follow-up (M = 24.50; SD = 13.38) was observed. Right hemisphere gray matter was correlated with language z-scores (p = 0.025; r = 0.679). The subiculum was correlated with attention (p = 0.047; r = 0.618) and verbal memory (p = 0.020; r = 0.700). The OEF and CBF were unchanged at follow-up (all p > .05). Although we observed cognitive improvements following 8 weeks of our HIIT intervention, they were not explained by hippocampal, OEF, or CBF changes.
Keyphrases
- working memory
- high intensity
- randomized controlled trial
- high resolution
- physical activity
- contrast enhanced
- cerebral ischemia
- computed tomography
- autism spectrum disorder
- body composition
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- mild cognitive impairment
- metabolic syndrome
- adipose tissue
- polycystic ovary syndrome
- machine learning
- mass spectrometry
- single molecule
- brain injury
- skeletal muscle
- middle aged
- insulin resistance
- room temperature
- diffusion weighted imaging
- blood flow
- photodynamic therapy
- pregnancy outcomes
- molecular dynamics
- double blind