Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral Center

Influence of Fitness on Brain and Cognition

Influence of Fitness on Brain and Cognition

Overall Status: 
Recruiting
Brief Description: 

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of aerobic fitness training on older adults' human cognition, brain structure, and brain function.

Patient Qualifications: 
Min AgeMax AgeGenderHealthy Volunteers
60 Years
75 Years
Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Inclusion Criteria: 
    • For sedentary older adults, no physical activity during the last 6 months; for young comparison sample, moderately active lifestyle and ability to perform exercise
    • Personal physician's examination and consent to participate in testing and exercise or control intervention
    • Successful completion of graded exercise test without evidence of cardiac abnormalities or responses
    • Adequate performance on the Pfeiffer (1979) Mental Status measure
    • Corrected (near and far) vision of 20/40 or better
    • Right-handedness
    • Intention to remain in the local area during the study period
Exclusion Criteria: 
    • For sedentary older adults, physical activity on regular basis (twice or more per week) during the last 6 months; for young comparison sample, sedentary or highly active/athletic lifestyle
    • Any physical disability that prohibits mobility (walking), stretching, and other movement
    • Geriatric Depression Scale score indicative of clinical depression
    • Presence of implanted device such as cardiac pacemaker or autodefibrillator; neural pacemaker, aneurysm clip in the central nervous system (CNS); cochlear implants; metallic bodies in the eye or CNS; any form of wires or metal devices that concentrate radiofrequency fields
    • Left-handedness
    • Individuals with chronic inflammation (for example, severe arthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, polyneuropathies, lupus)
    • Intent to move or take a vacation longer than 1 month during the study period
Detailed Description: 

Recent study findings have shown the positive effects of fitness training on human cognition, brain structure, and brain function. This study will test three hypotheses:

  • Improvements in aerobic fitness of older adults will lead to improved cognitive processes, especially those supported by brain's frontal regions.
  • Improvements in cognitive processes due to enhanced aerobic fitness will be visible on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans and will be similar to those of young adults.
  • Improvements in aerobic fitness, over the course of a 1-year intervention, will result in increases in gray and white matter volume.

Participants will be randomized to either an aerobic exercise (intervention) group or to a stretching and toning (control) group. Aerobic exercise sessions will be conducted three times a week for 1 year, beginning at a light to moderate intensity level during the first 2 months and progressing to a moderate to high level for the remainder of the year. The control group will meet as often as the intervention group and will participate in an organized program of stretching, limbering, and toning for the whole body.

During this time, participants will exercise, keep a daily exercise log detailing distance walked, time spent in aerobic activity, degree of intensity (rating of perceived exertion), and general feelings during exercise, resting and exercise heart rates. Participants will participate in MRI/fMRI, physiological (cardiorespiratory), and psychosocial testing prior to beginning fitness training, after 6 months of training, and at the end of 1 year.

Locations: 
Map Marker CityStateZip CodeStatusPrimary Contact

Geolocation is 40.1060728, -88.2217733

Beckman Institute, University of Illinois
Champaign
Illinois
61801
Recruiting
Art Kramer
217-244-1933
a-kramer@illinois.edu
Lead Sponsor: 
Agency
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Collaborator Sponsor: 
Agency
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Facility Investigators: 
NameRoleAffiliation
Art Kramer, PhD
Principal Investigator
Beckman Institute, University of Illinois
Study Contact: 
NamePhoneEmail
Art Kramer, PhD
217-244-1933
a-kramer@illinois.edu
Locations
 
 
ClinicalTrials.gov ID 
NCT00438347 (follow link to view full record on ct.gov in new window)
Official Title: 
Influence of Fitness on Brain and Cognition
Study Start Date: 
April 2006
Study End Date: 
December 2016
Enrollment: 
140
Trial References: 
Colcombe SJ, Kramer AF, Erickson KI, Scalf P, McAuley E, Cohen NJ, Webb A, Jerome GJ, Marquez DX, Elavsky S. Cardiovascular fitness, cortical plasticity, and aging. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Mar 2;101(9):3316-21. Epub 2004 Feb 20.
Barnes DE, Yaffe K, Satariano WA, Tager IB. A longitudinal study of cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive function in healthy older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2003 Apr;51(4):459-65.
Colcombe S, Kramer AF. Fitness effects on the cognitive function of older adults: a meta-analytic study. Psychol Sci. 2003 Mar;14(2):125-30.
Colcombe SJ, Erickson KI, Raz N, Webb AG, Cohen NJ, McAuley E, Kramer AF. Aerobic fitness reduces brain tissue loss in aging humans. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2003 Feb;58(2):176-80.