Effects of Aging, Estimated Fitness, and Cerebrovascular Status on White Matter Microstructural Health.

ABSTRACT: White matter (WM) microstructural health declines with increasing age, with evidence suggesting that improved cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) may mitigate this decline. Specifically, higher fit older adults tend to show preserved WM microstructural integrity compared to their lower fit counterparts. However, the extent to which fitness and aging independently impact WM integrity across the adult lifespan is still an open question, as is the extent to which cerebrovascular health mediates these relationships. In a large sample (N = 125, aged 25-72), we assessed the impact of age and estimated cardiorespiratory fitness on fractional anisotropy (FA, derived using diffusion weighted imaging, dwMRI) and probed the mediating role of cerebrovascular health (derived using diffuse optical tomograph

SUBMITTER: Clements GM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11926577 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature