Influence of BDNF Val66Met on the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and memory in cognitively normal older adults.
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Abstract
Higher cardiorespiratory fitness has been associated with better cognitive function in older adults; yet, this relationship demonstrates a degree of variability across the older adult population. Thus, it is hypothesised that variation in genetic factors may influence the relationship between fitness and cognitive health. One such genetic factor is the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism, which has previously been shown to moderate the relationship between self-reported physical activity and memory performance. In this study we aim to investigate the interaction between BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and objectively-measured cardiorespiratory fitness on performance on tasks assessing verbal and visuospatial memory. Data from ninety-nine cognitively normal men and women aged 60-80 years were used. Fitness was assessed by peak oxygen consumption, and verbal and visuospatial memory were evaluated using well-validated measures. Participants were categorised into: lower-fit Met carriers, higher-fit Met carriers, lower-fit Val/Val, or higher-fit Val/Val. Higher-fit individuals performed better on a task assessing visuospatial memory, compared with lower-fit individuals. Furthermore, an interaction between BDNF Val66Met and fitness was observed in terms of visuospatial memory performance on a continuous paired associate learning task; whereby lower-fit Met carriers performed 1 standard deviation worse than higher-fit Met carriers. No differences were observed between the higher-fit and lower-fit Val/Val homozygotes. Future intervention studies should evaluate the effect of structured exercise on cognitive health between BDNF Val66Met carriers and Val/Val homozygotes.
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Lifestyle factors may equalize a genetic handicap since people with a high CRF level but unfavorable genetic polymorphisms do not need to perform significantly poorer than individuals with low CRF level but favorable genetic equipment.
“However, considering current evidence, lifestyle factors may equalize a “genetic handicap” since people with a high CRF level but “unfavorable” genetic polymorphisms do not need to perform significantly poorer than individuals with low CRF level but “favorable” genetic equipment (Brown et al., 2019).”
From Dose-Response Matters! - A Perspective on the Exercise Prescription in Exercise-Cognition Research (2019) · cites this paper as Brown et al., 2019
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- Authors
- Brown, B. M., Castalanelli, N., Rainey-Smith, S. R., Doecke, J., Weinborn, M., Sohrabi, H. R., Laws, S. M., Martins, R. N., & Peiffer, J. J.
- Affiliations
- Murdoch University (AU)
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (AU)
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- Edith Cowan University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Brown, Belinda M.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Behavioural Brain Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-04
- Volume
- 362
- Pages
- 103-108
- ISSN
- 0166-4328 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2911209679
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 6 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 1.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behavioural Brain Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion)
- Murdoch University Research Portal (submittedVersion)
- Research Online (Edith Cowan University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Health and Medical Research Council Dementia Research Development Fellowship awarded to Belinda M Brown (GNT1097105)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Physical Performance
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Keywords
- BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, cardiorespiratory fitness, memory, visuospatial memory, verbal memory, older adults, genetic moderation, peak oxygen uptake, paired-associate learning
- MeSH terms
- Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Cognition, Female, Genotype, Humans, Male, Methionine, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Memory, Episodic
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