Psychiatry Investig.  2020 Jun;17(6):613-619. 10.30773/pi.2020.0214.

Effects of Moderate Intensity Exercise on the Cortical Thickness and Subcortical Volumes of Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease Patients: A Pilot Study

• Um YH
• Wang SM
• Kim NY
• Kang DW
• Na HR
• Lee CU
• Lim HK

• KMID: 2503071
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2020.0214

Abstract

Objective
We aimed to explore the impact of moderate intensity exercise on the cortical thickness and subcortical volumes of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients.
Methods
Sixty-three preclinical AD patients with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 18-florbetaben positron emission tomography (PET) data were enrolled in the study. Information on demographic characteristics, cognitive battery scores, self-reported exercise habits were attained. Structural magnetic resonance images were analyzed and processed using Freesurfer v6.0.
Results
Compared to Exercise group, Non-Exercise group demonstrated reduced cortical thickness in left parstriangularis, rostral middle frontal, entorhinal, superior frontal, lingual, superior parietal, lateral occipital, inferior parietal gyrus, temporal pole, precuneus, insula, fusiform gyrus, right precuneus, superiorparietal, lateral orbitofrontal, rostral middle frontal, medial orbitofrontal, superior frontal, lingual, middle temporal gyrus, insula, supramarginal, parahippocampal, paracentral gyrus. Volumes of right thalamus, caudate, putamen, pallidum, hippocampus, amygdala were also reduced in Non-Exercise group.
Conclusion
Moderate intensity exercise affects cortical and subcortical structures in preclinical AD patients. Thus, physical exercise has a potential to be an effective intervention to prevent future cognitive decline in those at high risk of AD.

Keyword

Alzheimer’s disease, Exercise, Cortical thickness, Subcortical volume, Structural MRI