Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Mild Cognitive Impairment

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Abstract
Salutary effects of exercise on cognitive function have been demonstrated in animal models and in a growing number of clinical studies with older adults.1-3 Potential mechanisms to account for the cognition-enhancing effects of exercise, identified primarily through animal research, include favorable effects on neuronal survivability and function, neuroinflammation, vascularization, neuroendocrine response to stress, and brain amyloid burden.4-14 Exercise also has positive effects on physiological processes such as glucoregulation and cardiovascular health that, when compromised, increase the risk of developing cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease (AD).15-18 Exercise benefits executive control processes of cognition including selective attention, planning, organizing, multitasking, inhibition, and working memory, and these effects may be more pronounced for older women than older men.19 Favorable effects of exercise on memory have been reported in a few clinical trials,20,21 although most support for a memory benefit comes from animal research.8,11,22,23 In humans, results of cross-sectional24 and prospective25 brain imaging studies suggest that increased aerobic fitness in cognitively healthy older adults is associated with reduced age-related atrophy and increased perfusion in regions that support executive control and memory processes, yet are most vulnerable to aging.19,26