Active Aging: Influence of fitness on brain and cognition
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The Illinois Active Aging Program, funded by the National Institute on Aging, aims to investigate the effects of fitness on brain and cognitive function in sedentary older adults. Participants in the Active Aging Program are recruited through the Kinesiology department at the University of Illinois. The program seeks healthy older adults between the ages of 55 and 85 years, who do not exercise regularly, but who are able to withstand a maximal oxygen uptake stress test, and who agree to join a six-month exercise program. Once enrolled, participants are randomly assigned to either a stretching and toning exercise group, or an aerobic walking group. Exercise sessions are held three times a week for one hour. Both the stretching and toning, and the walking groups, are led by trained exercise leaders who monitor participants' individual progress, give individualized exercise goals for each session, and provide daily personalized feedback on heart rate, exertion level, and exercise progress. To measure overall aerobic training progress, participants' maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 Max) is measured before and after the six month program. In addition, all participants are required to participate in cognitive testing before and after their six month exercise program. Cognitive testing includes both structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sessions, as well as cognitive behavioral testing. In the MRI, blood flow to different regions of the brain is measured as participants perform various computer-based tasks. The areas to which the most blood flows are considered to be the most "active" and consequently the most important in supporting task performance. By comparing pre-exercise and post-exercise MRI tests, we can tell what exercise has changed in the brain. Behavioral cognitive testing includes a variety of computer-based tasks, as well as some paper and pencil tests, all of which are aimed at measuring those cognitive skills known to be most affected by the aging process. Some of these include perceptual speed of processing, executive control, selective attention, fluid intelligence, perceptual motor skills, and working memory. To date, the Active Aging Program has completed two six-month exercise trials, and is currently recruiting participants to begin an upcoming third fitness training program. Results, in general, have shown that fitness training may serve as an effective intervention in delaying the process of cognitive decline normally associated with advanced aging. In particular, results suggest that regular exercise may help maintain and even enhance skills involved in executive control, such as planning, inhibition, and certain types of memory among older adults. Also, results have suggested that exercise is especially beneficial to the structure and function of the frontal lobes in older adults. In future experiments, we hope to extend upon this research to more specifically determine the cognitive functions improved by exercise in older adults.