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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Brain Health and Clinical Neuroscience
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1443916

Effects of a 6-Month Aerobic Exercise Intervention on Brain Morphology in Women with Breast Cancer Receiving Aromatase Inhibitor Therapy: A Sub-Study of the EPICC Trial

Provisionally accepted
Cristina Molina-Hidalgo Cristina Molina-Hidalgo 1,2*Lu Wan Lu Wan 2Daniel Velázquez Díaz Daniel Velázquez Díaz 1,2Haiqing Huang Haiqing Huang 1George A. Grove George A. Grove 2Catherine M. Bender Catherine M. Bender 3Amanda L. Gentry Amanda L. Gentry 3,4Susan M. Sereika Susan M. Sereika 3Chaeryon Kang Chaeryon Kang 5Mary E. Crisafio Mary E. Crisafio 2Kirk I. Erickson Kirk I. Erickson 1,2
  • 1 Neuroscience Institute, Advent Health Orlando, Orlando, United States
  • 2 Department of Psychology, Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States
  • 3 School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States
  • 4 School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 5 Department of Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States

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

    Objective: Physical exercise may increase brain volume and cortical thickness in late adulthood. However, few studies have examined the possibility for exercise to influence brain morphology in women treated for breast cancer. We conducted a nested sub-study within a randomized clinical trial to examine whether 6 months of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer influences brain morphology. Methods: We included twenty-eight postmenopausal women newly diagnosed with Stage 0-IIIa breast cancer (M age = 62.96 ± 5.40) who were randomized to either 45-60 minutes of supervised aerobic exercise 3 days/week (n=16) or usual care (n=12). Before beginning aromatase inhibitor aromatase inhibitor therapy, and the exercise intervention, and again at 6-month follow-up, volumetric and cortical thickness measures were derived from magnetic resonance imaging scans. Results: There were no significant intervention effects on brain volume and cortical thickness. However, greater average exercise intensity (%) during the intervention was associated with greater post-intervention cortical volume, mean cortical thickness, precentral gyrus thickness, and superior parietal thickness (all p<0.05). Finally, total supervised exercise time was associated with higher precentral gyrus thickness after the intervention (p= 0.042, R2= 0.263). Conclusions: The exercise intervention did not significantly affect brain volumes and cortical thickness compared to the control group. However, positive associations were found between exercise intensity and brain morphology changes after the 6-month intervention, indicating that exercise may reduce the vulnerability of the brain to the deleterious effects of breast cancer and its treatment.

    Keywords: breast cancer, aerobic exercise, brain morphology, cortical thickness, Postmenopausal

    Received: 05 Jun 2024; Accepted: 04 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Molina-Hidalgo, Wan, Velázquez Díaz, Huang, Grove, Bender, Gentry, Sereika, Kang, Crisafio and Erickson. 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: Cristina Molina-Hidalgo, Neuroscience Institute, Advent Health Orlando, Orlando, United States

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