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Life‐long aerobic exercise preserved baseline cerebral blood flow but reduced vascular reactivity to CO 2
Author(s) -
Thomas Binu P.,
Yezhuvath Uma S.,
Tseng Benjamin Y.,
Liu Peiying,
Levine Benjamin D.,
Zhang Rong,
Lu Hanzhang
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.24090
Subject(s) - cerebral blood flow , default mode network , aerobic exercise , medicine , posterior cingulate , cardiology , brain aging , precuneus , physical therapy , functional magnetic resonance imaging , disease , radiology
Purpose To examine the potential benefits of life‐long aerobic exercise on brain health, in particular cerebrovascular function. Materials and Methods Ten Masters athletes (MA) (seven males, three females; 74.5 ± 5.8 years) and 10 sedentary elderly individuals (SE) (eight males, two females; 75.4 ± 5.6 years) were recruited and baseline cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral vascular reactivity (CVR) to CO 2 were measured on a 3T MRI scanner. Nine sedentary young subjects were also recruited to serve as a control group to verify the age effect. Results When compared to the SE group, MA showed higher CBF in posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus, which are key regions of the default‐mode‐network and are known to be highly sensitive to age and dementia. CVR in the MA brains were paradoxically lower than that in SE. This effect was present throughout the brain. Within the MA group, individuals with higher VO 2max had an even lower CVR, suggesting a dose–response relationship. Conclusion Life‐long aerobic exercise preserved blood supply in the brain's default‐mode‐network against age‐related degradation. On the other hand, its impact on the cerebral vascular system seems to be characterized by a dampening of CO 2 reactivity, possibly because of desensitization effects due to a higher lifetime exposure. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2013;38:1177–1183. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.