Does physical fitness promote brain health? Evidence for this thesis – although no clear evidence – comes from a new study.
Counteract dementia risk factor
Does physical fitness promote brain health? Evidence for this thesis – although no clear evidence – comes from a new study. Researchers from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the University Medical Center Greifswald analyzed data from more than 2,000 adults. They found that the better the physical fitness, the larger the brain volume.
In the face of increasing life expectancy, dementia is becoming one of the greatest challenges in medical care. Because there are currently no effective therapies, especially for Alzheimer’s disease, prevention is becoming an increasing focus. “Physical inactivity is a risk factor for dementia. On the other hand, physical fitness and regular sport seem to have a preventive effect. Various studies suggest this. However, the mechanisms behind it are unclear,” says Prof. Hans Jörgen Grabe, research group leader at the DZNE site in Rostock / Greifswald and director of the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University Medical Center Greifswald (UMG).
SHIP study data
A new study now suggests that physical activity can indeed have a positive impact on brain health and cognitive performance. A research team led by Prof. Grabe and private lecturer Dr. Sebastian Baumeister, a research assistant at the UMG, analyzed data from the SHIP study with regard to the question of whether physical fitness is related to brain volume. The SHIP study (Study of Health in Pomerania) deals with factors for health and illness in the population. Several thousand people from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania take part in it.
For the current study, data from 2,103 women and men between the ages of 21 and 84 were taken into account. The median age was 52 years. These people had undergone a stress test on the bicycle ergometer as part of the SHIP study. In further examinations, their brains were measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Measurement of oxygen uptake
To determine physical fitness, the air inhaled and exhaled by the test subjects under maximum load was examined and the “maximum oxygen intake” determined. This provides information about the training status of the cardiovascular system. For the current study, these measured values and the MRI data were used in a statistical analysis. Conclusion: “We have found a positive connection between physical performance and brain volume: the better the physical fitness, the larger the brain volume,” explains Dr. Katharina Wittfeld, DZNE scientist and first author of the current publication. “The effect affected not only the total volume, but also individual brain areas that are important for memory as well as for emotional and reward-related behavior. With the so-called hippocampus, there is also a brain region that is involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Here too we see that physically fit people tend to have a larger hippocampus than people who are less fit. ”
Evidence, but no evidence
“The data now available support the hypothesis that cardiorespiratory fitness could contribute to improved brain health and a slower age-related reduction in brain mass,” says Hans Jörgen Grabe. In fact, the current study is one of the most extensive studies to date on the relationship between physical fitness and brain volume. It also shows a broad cross-section of the adult population.
“To improve cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity is strongly recommended and should be part of prevention programs to lead a healthy lifestyle,” advises Grabe. However, the current results would not prove that exercise actually increases brain volume. “The statistical relationship between fitness and brain volume, which we have determined, says nothing about the causes,” explains the Greifswald researcher. In this way, no test participants’ sporting activities were recorded, nor was it investigated whether the brain volume changed through training over longer periods of time. “The subjects only recorded the current status. We are also facing a chicken and egg problem. It cannot be ruled out that the size of some areas of the brain affects brain function in such a way that the person concerned is particularly motivated, Doing sports and therefore being physically fitter. Then sports would not be the cause of an enlarged brain volume, it would be the other way around. ”
Causes of the volume effect?
However, other studies suggest that regular exercise can increase brain volume. “Exercise has been shown to release the body’s own substances, which can counteract the loss of nerve cells. There is also evidence that physical activity can stimulate the formation of new nerve cells. Both phenomena could affect the brain volume that we and similar studies have demonstrated, possibly explain, “says Grabe.
The current study found a connection between physical fitness and brain volume not only in young people, but also in older adults. Grabe considers this observation to be particularly important: “This indicates that the promotion of physical fitness could perhaps even in late years help to maintain brain mass and thus stay fit in the head for as long as possible.”
Source:
Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Gray Matter Volume in the Temporal, Frontal, and Cerebellar Regions in the General Population,
Katharina Wittfeld et al., Mayo Clinic Proceedings (2020),
DOI: 10.1016 / j.mayocp.2019.05.030
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