Is cardiovascular fitness associated with structural brain integrity in midlife? Evidence from a population-representative birth cohort study.

ABSTRACT: Improving cardiovascular fitness may buffer against age-related cognitive decline and mitigate dementia risk by staving off brain atrophy. However, it is unclear if such effects reflect factors operating in childhood (neuroselection) or adulthood (neuroprotection). Using data from 807 members of the Dunedin Study, a population-representative birth cohort, we investigated associations between cardiovascular fitness and structural brain integrity at age 45, and the extent to which associations reflected possible neuroselection or neuroprotection by controlling for childhood IQ. Higher fitness, as indexed by VO₂Max, was not associated with average cortical thickness, total surface area, or subcortical gray matter volume including the hippocampus. However, higher fitness was associa

SUBMITTER: d'Arbeloff T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7655208 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature