title: Masters athletes exhibit larger regional brain volume and better cognitive performance than sedentary older adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate differences in the age-related decline in brain tissue concentration between Masters athletes and sedentary older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve Masters athletes (MA) (three females, age = 72.4 ± 5.6 years, endurance training >15 years), 12 sedentary elderly (SE) similar in age and educational level (four females, age = 74.6 ± 4.3 years), and nine young controls (YC) (four females, age = 27.2 ± 3.6 years) participated. T1-weighted high-resolution (1 × 1 × 1mm(3) ) images were acquired. Voxel-based analysis was conducted to identify clusters showing tissue concentration differences with t-tests. Cognitive function was assessed using a standard clinical battery focused on executive function and memory.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two MA and two SE were unable to complete the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. Both SE and MA showed lower gray matter (GM) concentrations than YC in the superior, inferior and middle frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, and the cingulate gyrus (PFDR-corrected < 0.001) and lower white matter (WM) concentrations in the inferior frontal gyrus and precentral gyrus (PFDR-corrected < 0.005). Notably, MA showed higher GM and WM concentrations than SE in the subgyral, cuneus, and precuneus regions related to visuospatial function, motor control, and working memory (PFDR-corrected < 0.005). After controlling for estimated intelligence, MA outperformed SE on tasks of letter (P < 0.01) and category (P < 0.05) fluency.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Life-long exercise may confer benefits to some aspects of executive function and age-related brain tissue loss in the regions related to visuospatial function, motor control, and working memory in older adults.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA; Department of Internal Medicine-Cardiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin Y
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: Jinsoo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Uh
authors.forename: Heidi C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Rossetti
authors.forename: C Munro
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Cullum
authors.forename: Ramon F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Diaz-Arrastia
authors.forename: Benjamin D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.forename: Hanzhang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: MRI; aging; brain; cognition; exercise
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