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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior
Volume 16 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1456665
This article is part of the Research Topic Cognitive reserve in old age View all articles

Association between Exercise Habits in Adolescence and Old Age and the Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Bunkyo Health Study

Provisionally accepted
Huicong Shi Huicong Shi 1,2Hiroki Tabata Hiroki Tabata 3*Hikaru Otsuka Hikaru Otsuka 1,2Takahito Iwashimizu Takahito Iwashimizu 4Hideyoshi Kaga Hideyoshi Kaga 5Yuki Someya Yuki Someya 6Abudurezake Abulaiti Abudurezake Abulaiti 2Saori Kakehi Saori Kakehi 1,2Hitoshi Naito Hitoshi Naito 5Yasuyo Yoshizawa Yasuyo Yoshizawa 3,7Ryuzo Kawamori Ryuzo Kawamori 1,2,5Hirotaka Watada Hirotaka Watada 2,5Yoshifumi Tamura Yoshifumi Tamura 1,2,5,7*
  • 1 Department of Sports Medicine & Sportology, School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2 Sportology Center, School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan
  • 3 Juntendo Advanced Research Institute for Health Science, Juntendo University, Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan
  • 4 Juntendo University Urayasu Hospital, Urayasu, Chiba, Japan
  • 5 Juntendo University, Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Metabolism & Endocrinology, Tokyo, Japan
  • 6 Juntendo University, Graduate School of Health and Sports Science, Inzai, Chiba, Japan
  • 7 Juntendo University, Faculty of International Liberal Arts, Tokyo, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Exercise in adolescence and old age improves cognitive function in older adults, but the combined effect of exercise habits in both periods is controversial. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between exercise habits in adolescence and old age and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and to compare regional brain volumes and blood biochemical markers associated with cognitive function in older adults.Methods: Baseline data of 1615 participants aged 65-84 years from the Bunkyo Health Study were analyzed. MCI was diagnosed using the Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Participants were divided into four groups based on their exercise habits in adolescence (13-18 years) and old age: no exercise in either period (None-None), exercise in adolescence only (Active-None), exercise in old age only (None-Active), and exercise in both periods (Active-Active). Logistic regression models estimated the odds ratios (ORs) of MCI prevalence. Regional brain volumes, such as the prefrontal cortex, temporal lobe, parietal cortex, and hippocampus, and blood biochemical markers, such as BDNF, IGF-1, and homocysteine, were compared between groups.The OR for MCI was significantly lower in the Active-Active group than in the None-None group (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.41-0.94). However, there were no significant differences in regional brain volumes and blood biochemical markers between the Active-Active and None-None groups.Conclusions: Older adults with exercise habits in both adolescence and old age have a lower risk of MCI. However, specific regional brain volumes and biochemical markers may not be associated with differences in cognitive function in older adults.

    Keywords: physical activity, Cognitive Function, regional brain volumes, Blood markers, Crosssectional study

    Received: 28 Jun 2024; Accepted: 17 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Shi, Tabata, Otsuka, Iwashimizu, Kaga, Someya, Abulaiti, Kakehi, Naito, Yoshizawa, Kawamori, Watada and Tamura. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Hiroki Tabata, Juntendo Advanced Research Institute for Health Science, Juntendo University, Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan
    Yoshifumi Tamura, Department of Sports Medicine & Sportology, School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Bunkyō, 113-8421, Tokyo, Japan

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