Aerobic exercise improves executive functions in females, but not males, without the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Aerobic exercise promotes cognitive function in older adults; however, variability exists in the degree of benefit. The brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism and biological sex are biological factors that have been proposed as important modifiers of exercise efficacy. Therefore, we assessed whether the effect of aerobic exercise on executive functions was dependent on the BDNFval66met genotype and biological sex.

Methods

We used data from a single-blind randomized controlled trial in older adults with subcortical ischemic vascular cognitive impairment (NCT01027858). Fifty-eight older adults were randomly assigned to either the 6 months, three times per week progressive aerobic training (AT) group or the usual care plus education control (CO

SUBMITTER: Barha CK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10069071 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature