Using resting-state fMRI to assess the effect of aerobic exercise on functional 
connectivity of the DLPFC in older overweight adults

Prehn, Kristin; Lesemann, Anne; Krey, Georgia; Witte, Veronica; Köbe, Theresa; Grittner, Ulrike; Flöel, Agnes

doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2017.08.006

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Using resting-state fMRI to assess the effect of aerobic exercise on functional connectivity of the DLPFC in older overweight adults

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Witte, Veronica
Department of Neurology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Germany;
Department Neurology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Prehn, K., Lesemann, A., Krey, G., Witte, V., Köbe, T., Grittner, U., et al. (2019). Using resting-state fMRI to assess the effect of aerobic exercise on functional connectivity of the DLPFC in older overweight adults. Brain and Cognition, 131, 34-44. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2017.08.006.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-002D-DC36-1

Abstract

Cardiovascular fitness is thought to exert beneficial effects on brain function and might delay the onset of cognitive decline. Empirical evidence of exercise-induced cognitive enhancement, however, has not been conclusive, possibly due to short intervention times in clinical trials. Resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) has been proposed as an early indicator for intervention-induced changes.

Here, we conducted a study in which healthy older overweight subjects took either part in a moderate aerobic exercise program over 6 months (AE group; n = 11) or control condition of non-aerobic stretching and toning (NAE group; n = 18). While cognitive and gray matter volume changes were rather small (i.e., appeared only in certain sub-scores without Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons or using small volume correction), we found significantly increased RSFC after training between dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and superior parietal gyrus/precuneus in the AE compared to the NAE group.

This intervention study demonstrates an exercise-induced modulation of RSFC between key structures of the executive control and default mode networks, which might mediate an interaction between task-positive and task-negative brain activation required for task switching. Results further emphasize the value of RSFC as a sensitive biomarker for detecting early intervention-related cognitive improvements in clinical trials.