Cardiorespiratory fitness, hippocampal subfield volumes, and mnemonic discrimination task performance in aging.

ABSTRACT: Aging and exercise have opposing effects on mnemonic discrimination task performance, which putatively taxes pattern separation mechanisms reliant on the dentate gyrus (DG) subfield of the hippocampus. In young adults, increasing cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) has been shown to improve mnemonic discrimination task performance and increase left anterior DG/CA3 volume. It is unknown how these variables interact in cognitive aging, yet this knowledge is critical, given the established effects of aging on hippocampal plasticity. To investigate these relationships, 65 older adults (aged 55-85 years) completed a submaximal treadmill test to estimate CRF, a mnemonic discrimination task, and a high-resolution MRI scan to determine hippocampal subfield volumes. Our older adult sample demonstrated

SUBMITTER: Kern KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7856657 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature