Title
Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Gray Matter Volume
Research Area
Health; Tackling Inactivity
Author
Wittfeld et al; Mayo Clinic Proceedings
Summary of Findings
Researchers studied 2,103 adults and measured cardiorespiratory fitness using peak oxygen uptake, oxygen uptake at the anaerobic threshold and maximum power output from cardiopulmonary exercise testing on a bicycle ergometer. Magnetic resonance imaging brain data was analysed with adjustments made for age, sex, education, smoking, body weight, systolic blood pressure, glycated haemoglobin level, and intracranial volume.
Cardiorespiratory fitness was positively associated with gray matter volume, total brain volume, and specific gray and white matter clusters in brain areas not primarily involved in movement processing. These results, from a representative population sample, suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness might contribute to improved brain health.
Implications
This study provides evidence of the impact that physical activity may have on brain health and might, therefore, decelerate pathology-specific decrease in gray matter.
.png "Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Gray Matter Volume")
