Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory
Edited by Fred Gage, Salk Institute, San Diego, CA, and approved December 30, 2010 (received for review October 23, 2010)
Abstract
The hippocampus shrinks in late adulthood, leading to impaired memory and increased risk for dementia. Hippocampal and medial temporal lobe volumes are larger in higher-fit adults, and physical activity training increases hippocampal perfusion, but the extent to which aerobic exercise training can modify hippocampal volume in late adulthood remains unknown. Here we show, in a randomized controlled trial with 120 older adults, that aerobic exercise training increases the size of the anterior hippocampus, leading to improvements in spatial memory. Exercise training increased hippocampal volume by 2%, effectively reversing age-related loss in volume by 1 to 2 y. We also demonstrate that increased hippocampal volume is associated with greater serum levels of BDNF, a mediator of neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. Hippocampal volume declined in the control group, but higher preintervention fitness partially attenuated the decline, suggesting that fitness protects against volume loss. Caudate nucleus and thalamus volumes were unaffected by the intervention. These theoretically important findings indicate that aerobic exercise training is effective at reversing hippocampal volume loss in late adulthood, which is accompanied by improved memory function.
Acknowledgments
We thank Susan Herrel, Edward Malkowski, Dawn Epstein, Zuha Warraich, Nancy Dodge, and Holly Tracy for help with data collection. This work was supported by National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health Grants RO1 AG25667 and RO1 AG25032. K.I.E. was supported by a Junior Scholar Award (P30 AG024827) from the Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center and a seed grant (P50 AG005133) awarded through the University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.
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Cover image: Pictured is an electron microscope image of hepatic sinusoidal vessels—small permeable blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the liver. The porous structures, or fenestrae, of hepatic sinusoidal vessels (shown here with a red blood cell) are crucial for the initiation of liver regeneration after the surgical removal of liver tissue. In liver tissue from elderly patients, regeneration is impaired and fenestrae are closed. Katarzyna Furrer et al. show that the addition of serotonin reopens the pores, which leads to an attachment of platelets to fenestrae and the restoration of liver regeneration in the elderly. See the article by Furrer et al. on pages 2945–2950. Image courtesy of Anne Greet Bittermann.
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Published online: January 31, 2011
Published in issue: February 15, 2011
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Acknowledgments
We thank Susan Herrel, Edward Malkowski, Dawn Epstein, Zuha Warraich, Nancy Dodge, and Holly Tracy for help with data collection. This work was supported by National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health Grants RO1 AG25667 and RO1 AG25032. K.I.E. was supported by a Junior Scholar Award (P30 AG024827) from the Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center and a seed grant (P50 AG005133) awarded through the University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.
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Competing Interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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