Physical Activity Level is Associated with Higher Brain Volume of Elderly: E-BRAIN Project Results

Introduction: Elderly people present a decrease in the volume of brain structures (VBS). Thus, interventions that promote VBS increase should be emphasized in this population. Studies that analyzed the relationship between moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and VBS measurements were limited to assessing few structures (hippocampus, total brain volume, gray matter), and that the practice of MVPA is associated with the VBS in other regions is still uncertain.

Objective: The present study (RBR-9zgxzd record) verified whether different levels of MVPA can influence the VBS (69 different structures).

Methods: 45 elderly (65.2 ± 2.8 years) without cognitive impairment (Mini Mental State Examination 27 ± 2) performed magnetic resonance imaging of the brain (Magnetom Verio 3 Tesla, Siemens, Germany) and had the level of physical activity measured for 7 days per accelerometer (GT9X ActiGraph, Pensacola, USA). The sample was divided into 3 subgroups, considering MVPA performed: <120 minutes (n = 15); 120-244 minutes (n = 15) and> 244 minutes (n = 15). To determine the coefficient of variation (CV) of the VBS measurements 10 subjects performed non-consecutive days on test and retest evaluations. Structures in which the difference between the groups was smaller than the CV were not analyzed (5 structures were excluded from the analyzes). One-way ANOVA (Tukey’s Pos-Hoc) was performed to compare the 3 different groups for each area of interest.

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p>Results: Of the 64 structures analyzed, 11 structures (6 structures with no overlap of the confidence interval [CI]) presented higher VBS in group 120-244 ‘compared to group <120’ (p <0.05), whereas VEE of 42 structures (being in 23 structures without CI overlap) was greater in favor of the group> 244 compared to the group <120 ‘(p <0.05).

Conclusion: MVPA time is associated with elderly VBS.