White matter microstructure mediates the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and spatial working memory in older adults

Lauren E Oberlin; Timothy D Verstynen; Agnieszka Z Burzynska; Michelle W Voss; Ruchika Shaurya Prakash; Laura Chaddock-Heyman; Chelsea Wong; Jason Fanning; Elizabeth Awick; Neha Gothe; Siobhan M Phillips; Emily Mailey; Diane Ehlers; Erin Olson; Thomas Wojcicki; Edward McAuley; Arthur F Kramer; Kirk I Erickson

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.09.053

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White matter microstructure mediates the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and spatial working memory in older adults

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White matter microstructure mediates the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and spatial working memory in older adults

Lauren E Oberlin, Timothy D Verstynen, Agnieszka Z Burzynska, Michelle W Voss, Ruchika Shaurya Prakash, Laura Chaddock-Heyman, Chelsea Wong, Jason Fanning, Elizabeth Awick, Neha Gothe, …

NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.), Vol.131, pp.91-101

05/01/2016

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.09.053

PMCID: PMC4826637

PMID: 26439513

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Abstract

White matter structure declines with advancing age and has been associated with a decline in memory and executive processes in older adulthood. Yet, recent research suggests that higher physical activity and fitness levels may be associated with less white matter degeneration in late life, although the tract-specificity of this relationship is not well understood. In addition, these prior studies infrequently associate measures of white matter microstructure to cognitive outcomes, so the behavioral importance of higher levels of white matter microstructural organization with greater fitness levels remains a matter of speculation. Here we tested whether cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max) levels were associated with white matter microstructure and whether this relationship constituted an indirect pathway between cardiorespiratory fitness and spatial working memory in two large, cognitively and neurologically healthy older adult samples. Diffusion tensor imaging was used to determine white matter microstructure in two separate groups: Experiment 1, N=113 (mean age=66.61) and Experiment 2, N=154 (mean age=65.66). Using a voxel-based regression approach, we found that higher VO2max was associated with higher fractional anisotropy (FA), a measure of white matter microstructure, in a diverse network of white matter tracts, including the anterior corona radiata, anterior internal capsule, fornix, cingulum, and corpus callosum (PFDR-corrected<.05). This effect was consistent across both samples even after controlling for age, gender, and education. Further, a statistical mediation analysis revealed that white matter microstructure within these regions, among others, constituted a significant indirect path between VO2max and spatial working memory performance. These results suggest that greater aerobic fitness levels are associated with higher levels of white matter microstructural organization, which may, in turn, preserve spatial memory performance in older adulthood. •Fitness was associated with white matter (WM) microstructure in multiple WM tracts.•Regions of association included tracts that connect the medial temporal and prefrontal cortices.•The fitness–WM relationship was further associated with working memory performance.

Aging

White matter

Memory

Fitness

Details

Title: Subtitle: White matter microstructure mediates the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and spatial working memory in older adults
Creators: Lauren E Oberlin - Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Timothy D Verstynen - Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Agnieszka Z Burzynska - Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University — Fort Collins, USA
Michelle W Voss - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, USA
Ruchika Shaurya Prakash - Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, USA
Laura Chaddock-Heyman - Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Chelsea Wong - Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Jason Fanning - Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Elizabeth Awick - Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Neha Gothe - Department of Kinesiology, Wayne State University, USA
Siobhan M Phillips - Department of Preventative Medicine, Northwestern University, USA
Emily Mailey - Department of Kinesiology, Kansas State University, USA
Diane Ehlers - Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Erin Olson - Harvard Medical School, USA
Thomas Wojcicki - Exercise Science Department, Bellarmine University, USA
Edward McAuley - Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Arthur F Kramer - Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Kirk I Erickson - Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.), Vol.131, pp.91-101
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.09.053
PMID: 26439513
PMCID: PMC4826637
NLM abbreviation: Neuroimage
ISSN: 1053-8119
eISSN: 1095-9572
Publisher: Elsevier Inc
Language: English
Date published: 05/01/2016
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984002476702771

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