UMD study finds brain connectivity, memory improves in older adults after walking
School of Public Health research adds to growing evidence that exercise slows cognitive impairment and may delay onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Peer-Reviewed PublicationA new University of Maryland School of Public Health study reveals how walking strengthens connections within and between three of the brain’s networks, including one associated with Alzheimer’s disease, adding to the growing evidence that exercise improves brain health.
Published this month in the Journal for Alzheimer’s Disease Reports, the study examined the brains and story recollection abilities of older adults with normal brain function and those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, which is a slight decline in mental abilities like memory, reasoning and judgment and a risk factor for Alzheimer’s.
“Historically, the brain networks we studied in this research show deterioration over time in people with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease,” said J. Carson Smith, a kinesiology professor with the School of Public Health and principal investigator of the study. “They become disconnected, and as a result, people lose their ability to think clearly and remember things. We're demonstrating that exercise training strengthens these connections.”
The study builds upon Smith’s previous research, which showed how walking may decrease cerebral blood flow and improve brain function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.
Thirty-three participants, who ranged between 71 and 85 years old, walked while supervised on a treadmill four days a week for 12 weeks. Before and after this exercise regimen, researchers asked participants to read a short story and then repeat it out loud with as many details as possible.
Participants also underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) so researchers could measure changes in communication within and between the three brain networks that control cognitive function:
- Default mode network - Activates when a person isn’t doing a specific task (think daydreaming about the grocery list) and is connected to the hippocampus - one of the first brain regions affected by Alzheimer’s disease. It’s also where Alzheimer's and amyloid plaques, a prime suspect for Alzheimer's disease found around nerve cells, show up in tests.
- Frontoparietal network - Regulates decisions made when a person is completing a task. It also involves memory.
- Salience network - Monitors the external world and stimuli and then decides what deserves attention. It also facilitates switching between networks to optimize performance.
After 12 weeks of exercise, researchers repeated the tests and saw significant improvements in participants’ story recall abilities.
“The brain activity was stronger and more synchronized, demonstrating exercise actually can induce the brain’s ability to change and adapt,” Smith said. “These results provide even more hope that exercise may be useful as a way to prevent or help stabilize people with mild cognitive impairment and maybe, over the long term, delay their conversion to Alzheimer's dementia.”
Researchers also observed stronger activity within the default mode network, within the salience network and in the connections between the three networks.
JOURNAL
Journal of Alzheimer s Disease Reports
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Experimental study
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
People
ARTICLE TITLE
Large-Scale Network Connectivity and Cognitive Function Changes After Exercise Training in Older Adults with Intact Cognition and Mild Cognitive Impairment
Multivitamin improves memory in older adults, study finds
Taking a daily multivitamin may help slow age-related memory decline, a study has found.
Peer-Reviewed PublicationNEW YORK, NY (May 24, 2023)--Taking a daily multivitamin supplement can slow age-related memory decline, finds a large study led by researchers at Columbia University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard.
“Cognitive aging is a top health concern for older adults, and this study suggests that there may be a simple, inexpensive way to help older adults slow down memory decline,” says study leader Adam M. Brickman, PhD, professor of neuropsychology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Many older people take vitamins or dietary supplements under the assumption that they will help maintain general health. But studies that have tested whether they improve memory and brain function have been mixed, and very few large-scale, randomized trials have been done.
Study methods
In the current study, more than 3,500 adults (mostly non-Hispanic white) over age 60 were randomly assigned to take a daily multivitamin supplement or placebo for three years. At the end of each year, participants performed a series of online cognitive assessments at home designed to test memory function of the hippocampus, an area of the brain that is affected by normal aging. The COSMOS-Web study is part of a large clinical trial led by Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard called the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS).
By the end of the first year, memory improved for people taking a daily multivitamin, compared with those taking a placebo. The researchers estimate the improvement, which was sustained over the three-year study period, was equivalent to about three years of age-related memory decline. The effect was more pronounced in participants with underlying cardiovascular disease.
The results of the new study are consistent with another recent COSMOS study of more than 2,200 older adults that found that taking a daily multivitamin improved overall cognition, memory recall, and attention, effects that were also more pronounced in those with underlying cardiovascular disease.
“There is evidence that people with cardiovascular disease may have lower micronutrient levels that multivitamins may correct, but we don’t really know right now why the effect is stronger in this group,” says Brickman.
Good nutrition important for aging brain
Though the researchers did not look at whether any specific component of the multivitamin supplement was linked to the improvement in memory, the findings support growing evidence that nutrition is important for optimizing brain health as we age.
“Our study shows that the aging brain may be more sensitive to nutrition than we realized, though it may not be so important to find out which specific nutrient helps slow age-related cognitive decline,” says Lok-Kin Yeung, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in Columbia’s Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain and first author of the study.
“The finding that a daily multivitamin improved memory in two separate cognition studies in the COSMOS randomized trial is remarkable, suggesting that multivitamin supplementation holds promise as a safe, accessible, and affordable approach to protecting cognitive health in older adults,” says co-author JoAnn Manson, MD, chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
“Supplementation of any kind shouldn’t take the place of more holistic ways of getting the same micronutrients,” adds Brickman. “Though multivitamins are generally safe, people should always consult a physician before taking them.”
More information
The study, titled “Multivitamin supplementation improves memory in older adults: A randomized clinical trial,” was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
All authors: Lok-Kin Yeung (Columbia), Daniel M. Alschuler (New York State Psychiatric Institute), Melanie Wall (Columbia), Heike Luttman-Gibson (Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard), Trisha Copeland (Brigham and Women’s/Harvard), Richard P. Sloan (Columbia), Howard D. Sesso (Brigham and Women’s/Harvard), JoAnn E. Manson (Brigham and Women’s/Harvard), and Adam M. Brickman (Columbia).
Dr. Manson and Dr. Sesso are co-leaders of the parent COSMOS trial.
The study was supported by grants from Mars Edge, a segment of Mars Inc., and the National Institutes of Health (AG050657, AG071611, EY025623, and HL157665).
Multivitamins were supplied by Pfizer. Dr. Sesso reported receiving investigator-initiated grants from Pure Encapsulations and Pfizer and/or travel funds for lectures from the Council for Responsible Nutrition, BASF, NIH, and the American Society of Nutrition during the study.
No other conflicts have been reported.
###
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) is a clinical, research, and educational campus located in New York City, and is one of the oldest academic medical centers in the United States. CUIMC is home to four professional colleges and schools (Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Mailman School of Public Health, College of Dental Medicine, and School of Nursing) that are global leaders in their fields. CUIMC is committed to providing inclusive and equitable health and medical education, scientific research, and patient care, and working together with our local upper Manhattan community—one of New York City's most diverse neighborhoods. For more information, please visit cuimc.columbia.edu.
JOURNAL
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Randomized controlled/clinical trial
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
People
ARTICLE TITLE
Multivitamin supplementation improves memory in older adults: A randomized clinical trial
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
24-May-2023
COI STATEMENT
Multivitamins were supplied by Pfizer. Dr. Sesso reported receiving investigator-initiated grants from Pure Encapsulations and Pfizer and/or travel for lectures from the Council for Responsible Nutrition, BASF, NIH, and the American Society of Nutrition during the study. No other conflicts have been reported.
No comments:
Post a Comment