Resistance Training Increases White Matter Density in Frail Elderly Women




Bucci Marco, Iozzo Patricia, Merisaari Harri, Huovinen Ville, Lipponen Heta, Räikkönen Katri, Parkkola Riitta, Salonen Minna, Sandboge Samuel, Eriksson Johan G, Nummenmaa Lauri, Nuutila Pirjo

PublisherMDPI

2023

Journal of Clinical Medicine

Journal of clinical medicine

J Clin Med

2684

12

7

2077-0383

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12072684

https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/7/2684

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/179517320



We aimed to investigate the effects of maternal obesity on brain structure and metabolism in frail women, and their reversibility in response to exercise. We recruited 37 frail elderly women (20 offspring of lean/normal-weight mothers (OLM) and 17 offspring of obese/overweight mothers (OOM)) and nine non-frail controls to undergo magnetic resonance and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), positron emission tomography with Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (PET), and cognitive function tests (CERAD). Frail women were studied before and after a 4-month resistance training, and controls were studied once. White matter (WM) density (voxel-based morphometry) was higher in OLM than in OOM subjects. Exercise increased WM density in both OLM and OOM in the cerebellum in superior parietal regions in OLM and in cuneal and precuneal regions in OOM. OLM gained more WM density than OOM in response to intervention. No significant results were found from the Freesurfer analysis, nor from PET or DTI images. Exercise has an impact on brain morphology and cognition in elderly frail women.

Last updated on 2025-27-03 at 21:47