Aerobic fitness and the brain: increased N-acetyl-aspartate and choline concentrations in endurance-trained middle-aged adults.
Open accessAbstract
Engagement in regular aerobic exercise is associated with cognitive benefits, but information on the mechanisms governing these changes in humans is limited. The goal of the current study was to compare neurometabolite concentrations relating to cellular metabolism, structure, and viability in endurance-trained and sedentary middle-aged adults. Twenty-eight endurance-trained and 27 sedentary adults, aged 40-65 years, underwent general health assessment, cardiorespiratory fitness measurement, neuropsychological testing, and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS). (1)H MRS was used to examine N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), creatine (Cr), myo-inositol (mI), choline (Cho), and glutamate (Glu) concentrations in frontal and occipitoparietal grey matter. Group differences in concentrations of NAA, Cho, mI, and Glu, calculated as ratios over Cr, were explored using ANOVA. There were no significant differences in global cognitive function, memory, and executive function performance between the groups. In comparison to sedentary adults, the endurance-trained group displayed significantly higher NAA/Cr in the frontal grey matter (F(1, 53) = 5.367, p = 0.024) and higher Cho/Cr in the occipitoparietal grey matter (F(1, 53) = 5.138, p = 0.028). Within our middle-aged sample, endurance-trained adults demonstrated higher levels of NAA/Cr in the frontal grey matter and higher Cho/Cr in the occipitoparietal grey matter. Higher levels of NAA may indicate greater neuronal integrity and higher cerebral metabolic efficiency in association with cardiorespiratory fitness, whereas increased Cho may represent increased phospholipid levels secondary to neural plasticity.
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Growth in hippocampal volume and, in some cases, improvements in working memory performance are correlated with higher concentrations of NAA.
“N-acetylaspartate (NAA) is a metabolite indicative of neuronal integrity and a number of AE studies have demonstrated that the growth in hippocampal volume (Pajonk et al., 2010; Erickson et al., 2012; Gonzales et al., 2013; Wagner et al., 2015) and in some cases, improvements in working memory performance (Erickson et al., 2011) are both correlated with higher concentrations of NAA.”
From Aerobic Exercise as a Tool to Improve Hippocampal Plasticity and Function in Humans: Practical Implications for Mental Health Treatment (2016) · cites this paper as Gonzales et al., 2013
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References 54 · Cited by 52
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Skullerud K Variations in the size of the human brain. Influence of age, sex, body length, body mass index, alcoholism, Alzheimer changes, and cerebral atherosclerosis Acta Neurol Scand Suppl 1985 102 1 94 3887832
- Authors
- Gonzales, M. M., Tarumi, T., Kaur, S., Nualnim, N., Fallow, B. A., Pyron, M., Tanaka, H., & Haley, A. P.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Corresponding author
- Haley, Andreana P.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Brain Topography
- Published
- 2012-08-28
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 126-134
- ISSN
- 0896-0267 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-6792
- PMC
- PMC3537918
- OpenAlex
- W2070371081
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 3.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Brain Topography (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- American Heart Association
- University of Texas at Austin
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS075565, NS075565)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Keywords
- cardiorespiratory fitness, endurance training, N-acetylaspartate, choline, neurometabolites, frontal cortex, parieto-occipital cortex, sedentary adults, middle-aged adults, cognitive function, memory, executive function, neuronal integrity, neuroplasticity, 1H NMR
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Analysis of Variance, Aspartic Acid, Choline, Cognition, Creatine, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Exercise
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