Aerobic exercise increases hippocampal volume in older women with probable mild cognitive impairment: a 6-month randomised controlled trial.
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a well-recognised risk factor for dementia and represents a vital opportunity for intervening. Exercise is a promising strategy for combating cognitive decline by improving brain structure and function. Specifically, aerobic training (AT) improved spatial memory and hippocampal volume in healthy community-dwelling older adults. In older women with probable MCI, we previously demonstrated that resistance training (RT) and AT improved memory. In this secondary analysis, we investigated: (1) the effect of RT and AT on hippocampal volume and (2) the association between change in hippocampal volume and change in memory. METHODS: 86 women aged 70-80 years with probable MCI were randomly assigned to a 6-month, twice-weekly programme of: (1) AT, (2) RT or (3) balance and tone training (BAT; ie, control). At baseline and trial completion, participants performed a 3T MRI scan to determine hippocampal volume. Verbal memory and learning were assessed by Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test. RESULTS: Compared with the BAT group, AT significantly improved left, right and total hippocampal volumes (p≤0.03). After accounting for baseline cognitive function and experimental group, increased left hippocampal volume was independently associated with reduced verbal memory and learning performance as indexed by loss after interference (r=0.42, p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Aerobic training significantly increased hippocampal volume in older women with probable MCI. More research is needed to ascertain the relevance of exercise-induced changes in hippocampal volume on memory performance in older adults with MCI. TRAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00958867.
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Aerobic exercise interventions have been shown to increase hippocampal volume in patients with mild cognitive impairments.
“AE interventions have also been shown to increase hippocampal volume in patients with mild cognitive impairments (ten Brinke et al., 2015), schizophrenia (Pajonk et al., 2010), and multiple sclerosis (Leavitt et al., 2014).”
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 ten Brinke et al., 2015
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- Authors
- ten Brinke, L. F., Bolandzadeh, N., Nagamatsu, L. S., Hsu, C. L., Davis, J. C., Miran-Khan, K., & Liu-Ambrose, T.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Liu-Ambrose, Teresa
- Venue
- British Journal of Sports Medicine
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2014-04-07
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 248-254
- ISSN
- 0306-3674 (ISSN-L)
- 1473-0480
- PMC
- PMC4508129
- OpenAlex
- W2114849332
- Cited by
- 380
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 46 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 18.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- British Journal of Sports Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (126723_1)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- aerobic exercise, hippocampal volume, mild cognitive impairment, older women, resistance training, verbal memory, verbal learning, dementia prevention, brain structure
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Female, Hippocampus, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Memory Disorders, Organ Size, Exercise, Single-Blind Method, Treatment Outcome, Resistance Training, Cognitive Dysfunction
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