Could Exercise Help Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease?

In a new clinical study, physical activity was shown to promote alterations in the brain that could actually help prevent cognitive decline in people who may be at high-risk for the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Clinical investigators have been quite impressed with the results they are seeing so far from this research and related studies being conducted in Alabama.

One of the leading investigators working on this Alzheimer’s-related research is J, Carson Smith, an assistant professor of health sciences. For this clinical trial, he had wanted to observe both healthy older adults and people who carry the high-risk gene for Alzheimer’s disease.

“Our study suggests that if you are at genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease, the benefits of exercise to your brain function might be even greater than for those who do not have that genetic risk,” states Smith.

Physical Fitness Linked to Good Cognitive Function

Prior studies have already shown that regular physical fitness is linked to the maintenance of proper cognitive function over the course of a lifetime, except that these previous clinical studies had been conducted with healthier participants. Smith had been concerned that medical researchers had not taken the level of risk for Alzheimer’s disease into consideration. On the other hand, a clinical study in Birmingham has been looking into the sensation of hunger as protection against Alzheimer’s.

A team of clinical investigators compared brain activation during the processing of memories in four separate groups of healthy adults between the ages of 65 and 85 years old. The level of risk was characterized by the presence of the apolipoprotein E-epsilon4 (APOE-4) allele in a given participant. Logically, their physical activity status was based on the level and frequency of physical activity (PA) that was reported by participants. The research team divided participants into Low Risk/Low PA, Low Risk/High PA, High Risk/Low PA and High Risk/High PA.

Activating the Semantic Memory System

They then measured brain activation within the participants with the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they had them conduct a mental task involving distinguishing between famous people. According to Smith, this test is quite useful as it activates a broad network known as the semantic memory system, which involves 15 separate regions of the brain.

“When a person thinks about people – for example, Frank Sinatra or Lady Gaga – that involves several lobes of the brain,” explains Smith.

Alzheimer’s Gene Carriers Beat Non-Carriers

Among the different groups in this clinical study, allele carriers who exercised produced a greater level of brain activity in these regions related to memory than participants who lived more sedentary lives. In addition, it seems that the physically active participants with the APOE-4 allele had a greater level of brain activity than those who exercised but were not carriers.

There are many physiological explanations for this occurrence states Smith. “For example, people with this increased activation might be compensating for some underlying neurological event that is involved in cognitive decline. Using more areas of their brain may serve as a protective function, even in the face of disease processes.”