Physical Exercise and Spatial Training: A Longitudinal Study of Effects on Cognition, Growth Factors, and Hippocampal Plasticity

Physical exercise has been suggested to improve cognitive performance through various neurobiological mechanisms, mediated by growth factors such as BDNF, IGF-I, and VEGF. Moreover, animal research has demonstrated that combined physical and cognitive stimulation leads to increased adult neurogenesi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2018-03, Vol.8 (1), p.4239-13, Article 4239
Main Authors: Woost, Luise, Bazin, Pierre-Louis, Taubert, Marco, Trampel, Robert, Tardif, Christine L., Garthe, Alexander, Kempermann, Gerd, Renner, Ulrich, Stalla, Günter, Ott, Derek V. M., Rjosk, Viola, Obrig, Hellmuth, Villringer, Arno, Roggenhofer, Elisabeth, Klein, Tilmann A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Animal cognition
Animal research
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
Cognitive ability
Exercise
Growth factors
Hippocampal plasticity
Hippocampus
Humanities and Social Sciences
Insulin-like growth factor I
Longitudinal studies
Magnetic resonance imaging
multidisciplinary
Neurogenesis
Physical training
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Training
Vascular endothelial growth factor
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Summary:Physical exercise has been suggested to improve cognitive performance through various neurobiological mechanisms, mediated by growth factors such as BDNF, IGF-I, and VEGF. Moreover, animal research has demonstrated that combined physical and cognitive stimulation leads to increased adult neurogenesis as compared to either experimental condition alone. In the present study, we therefore investigated whether a sequential combination of physical and spatial training in young, healthy adults elicits an additive effect on training and transfer gains. To this end, we compared the effects of (i) eight 20-minute sessions of cycling, (ii) sixteen 30-minute sessions of spatial training, (iii) a combination of both, and included (iv) a passive control cohort. We assessed longitudinal changes in cognitive performance, growth factor levels, and T 1 relaxation of hippocampal subfields (acquired with 7 T MRI). While substantial physical and spatial training gains were elicited in all trained groups, longitudinal transfer changes did not differ between these groups. Notably, we found no evidence for an additive effect of sequential physical and spatial training. These results challenge the extrapolation from the findings reported in animals to young, healthy adults.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-19993-9