Physical Activity Promotes Primary Motor Cortex Neuroplasticity over the Course of Aging

 True but we don't SPECIFICALLY  know why a neuron gives up its' current job and takes on a neighbors. Thus nothing on neuroplasticity is scientifically repeatable on demand. So DEMAND your doctor give you EXACT PROTOCOLS to use. Don't allow your doctor to give you generalities.

Physical Activity Promotes Primary Motor Cortex Neuroplasticity over the Course of Aging

Marisa M. Ferreira1, Sónia S. Sousa1, Inês Gomes2, Leonor Torres2, Miguel Ramalho2, Joana Carvalho3, Adriana Sampaio1, Anabela Silva-Fernandes1 1Psychological Neuroscience Laboratory, Psychology Research Center (CIPsi), School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal 2Department of EducaEon and Psychology, School of Human and Social Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal. 3Research Center in Physical AcEvity, Health and Leisure (CIAFEL), Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

”XI SIMPÓSIO NACIONAL DE INVESTIGAÇÃO EM PSICOLOGIA”, 20-22 JUNE 2022 INTRODUCTION Over the past decades the relationship between physical activity (PA) and brain health has been in the spotlight of the public health institutions such as the WHO as a tool to promote healthy ageing and prevent age-related diseases such as dementia (Piercy et al., 2018; Who, 2010). Neuroplasticity is an intrinsic and paramount property of brain development and maintenance across the lifespan that allows individuals to maintain brain health across the ageing process. This ability appears to peak in young adulthood displaying a gradual but consistent decrease with age. Important factors contribute to changes in the efficacy of mechanisms of plasticity across the lifespan including not only genetic and epigenetic mechanisms but also lifestyle factors. Emerging findings in the PA domain, suggest that being physically active can optimize brain function and counteract the neurodegenerative effects of ageing (Perez et al., 2019). PA encompasses leisure time, walking or cycling, among others (American College of Sports Medicine [ACSM], 2018) and can be classified into levels: sedentary time; light, moderate, or vigorous PA, or moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) (Bushman & Medicine, 2017; Bushman, 2019). PA has been associated with alterations in several brain structures with a major impact observed in the hippocampus, temporal and frontal lobes, including the motor area (Migueles et al., 2017). Higher levels of PA were associated with increased gray matter volumes and reduced atrophy in brain tissues (Beavers et al., 2010; Migueles et al., 2017). However, only a couple of studies reported the effects of physical activity measured by accelerometry. A positive association between the hippocampus and temporal gray matter volumes and the amount of PA was found. Building on this evidence we aim to further explore the relationship between PA levels and brain structure, in a group of healthy adults, using Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM). METHOD Participants Thirty-eight participants aged between 20 and 77 years old were recruited in Porto, in the north area of Portugal, through advertisement and personal invitation. Exclusion criteria were defined as, presence or history of neurodegenerative disorders, past head injury. Participants were dichotomized as active or inactive according to the time spent in MVPA. Twenty participants were characterized as active and 18 as inactive. Measures Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire including age, and years of education. Physical activity levels assessment: participants were instructed to wear the GT3X Actigraph accelerometer (ActiGraph; Pensacola, Florida) on the right hip (close to the iliac crest) for 7 consecutive days, during all waking hours, except when showering or performing water-based activities. The physical activity derived data was analyzed in daily bouts. The accuracy of the collected data was defined as of at least 8 hours of valid wear-time, and non-valid wear time were defined as 60- minutes of consecutive zeros. Only data for individuals with a minimum of 4 valid days (3 weekdays and 1 weekend day) were included for processing with the ActiLife v6.0 software. Intervals of register of 1 minute provided 60 samples of PA per hour. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is defined as > 2020 counts/minute (Troiano et al., 2008). Active and Inactive groups were defined depending on whether they did at least 30 minutes of MVPA per day, or 150 minutes of MVPA per week (WHO, 2020). Image Acquisition The neuroimaging assessment was conducted with a clinically approved Siemens Magneton TrioTim 3T MRI scanner. Sagittal high-resolution 3D T1 weighted anatomical images were acquired using a magnetization prepared rapid acquisition gradient echo (MPRAGE) sequence with the following parameters: repetition time (TR) = 2700 ms, echo time (TE) = 2.33 ms, flip angle (FA) = 7 , 192 slices with 0.8 mm thickness, in-plane resolution = 1 ⇥ 1 mm2, and 256 mm field of view (FoV). Data processing and analysis: Voxel Based Morphometry (VBM) data was processed using the SPM12 pipeline and statistical tools (Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, United Kingdom) executed in Matlab (MathWorks, Natick, MA, United States) with the VBM module. Images were segmented into gray matter, white matter and cerebrospinal fluid using an extension of the standard unified segmentation model in SPM12; co-registered across participants using the DARTEL algorithm and normalized with a 8mm FWHM Gaussian filter. Procedures Data was obtained as part of a longitudinal study investigating the impact of physical activity in the brain structure and function, in Portugal. A cross-sectional design was adopted to analyze the baseline data. Participants were initially screened according to the eligibility criteria. The goal, benefits, and potential risks were explained to the eligible participants and those who provided written informed consent, in conformity with the Helsinki Declaration, were included. A questionnaire regarding sociodemographic data was answered and brain image acquisition was obtained, followed by a consecutive 7-day assessment of physical activity. All methods and procedures were approved by the Ethic Subcommission of Life and Health Sciences of the University of Minho (SECVS 120/2016). Statistical Analysis: SPSS 27.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA) was used to perform preliminary data analysis. Descriptive statistics and between groups t-tests were computed for demographic data. Two-sample t-tests were performed to analyze gray matter densities differences between the active and inactive groups, with age as covariate. Total intracranial volume of each subject was included in the statistical model. GM images were assessed separately and 2 contrasts were set. SPM maps were generated for between group differences in brain areas where gray matter densities were significantly lower/higher in the active group compared to the inactive. The threshold masking value was absolute 0.2 to exclude non-tissue voxels from the analysis. Statistical threshold criteria was defined as p < 0.001 uncorrected. RESULTS DISCUSSION The main purpose of the present study was to examine the association between one’s physical activity levels and brain health, based on objective measures of physical activity levels and MRI indicators. Our findings revealed higher gray matter volume in the precentral gyrus in the active group in comparison to the inactive group. The present findings are consistent with recent evidence showing increased gray matter volumes and cortical thickness in regions of the motor cortex, namely the precentral gyrus, supplementary motor area, pre-supplementary motor area and frontal lobe as a whole, both in young and older adults (Haeger et al., 2019; Lullic et al., 2017; Rehfeld et al., 2018; Schlaffke et al, 2014). Interestingly, these studies have disclosed the ability of various fitness modalities in enhancing motor cortex plasticity, such as dancing or endurance, among others (e.g. Rehfeld et al., 2018; Schlaffke et al, 2014). However, to the best of our knowledge this is the first study showing that engaging in daily MVPA -i.e. at least 30 min/day, or 150 min/week, as recommend by the WHOsuch as walking or cycling, seem to produce the same effects on the motor cortex plasticity as engaging in more structured PA sessions, being even comparable to the effects of exercise in the motor cortex observed in athletes (Schlaffke et al, 2014). The precentral gyrus, site of the primary motor cortex, besides being responsible for the control of voluntary motor movements is also involved in cognitive processes that tend to decline with aging (Seidler et al., 2010). Our results highlight that engaging in a minimum of 30 min of daily MVPA seem to have the same impact on motor cortex plasticity as programmed PA sessions in counteracting the negative effects of aging. This data can open the discussion about the effects of MVPA levels on brain plasticity and catalyze further research in this domain.