title: Physical activity in the elderly is associated with improved executive function and processing speed: the LADIS Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Physical activity reduces the risk of cognitive decline but may affect cognitive domains differently. We examined whether physical activity modifies processing speed, executive function and memory in a population of non-dementia elderly subjects with age-related white matter changes (ARWMC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the Leukoaraiosis And DISability (LADIS) study, a multicenter, European prospective cohort study aimed at examining the role of ARWMC in transition to disability, was used. Subjects in the LADIS study were clinically assessed yearly for 3 years including MRI at baseline and 3-year follow-up. Physical activity was assessed at baseline, and cognitive compound scores at baseline and 3-year assessment were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two-hundred-eighty-two subjects (age, y (mean (SD)): 73.1 (± 5.1); gender (f/m): 164/118); MMSE (mean (SD)): 28.3 (± 1.7)) who had not progressed to MCI or dementia, were included. Multiple variable linear regression analysis with baseline MMSE, education, gender, age, stroke, diabetes and ARWMC rating as covariates revealed that physical activity was associated with better scores at baseline and 3-year follow-up for executive function (baseline: β: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.13-0.90, p = 0.008; follow-up: β: 0.24, 95% CI: 0.10-0.38, p = 0.001) and processing speed (baseline: β: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.14-0.89, p = 0.005; follow-up: β: 0.15, 95% CI: 0.02-0.29, p = 0.02) but not memory. When including baseline cognitive score as a covariate in the analysis of 3-year follow-up scores, executive function remained significant (β: 0.11, 95% CI: 0-0.22, p = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings confirm previous findings of a positive effect of physical activity on cognitive functions in elderly subjects, and further extends these by showing that the association is also present in patients with ARWMC.
authors.affiliation: Memory Disorders Research Group, Danish Dementia Research Center, Department of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kristian Steen
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Frederiksen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, University of Lisbon, Santa Maria Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Verdelho
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, University of Lisbon, Santa Maria Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Madureira
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Heidelberg, Klinikum Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Hansjörg
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bäzner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Trust, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical University Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fazekas
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scheltens
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical University Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Reinhold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wallin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, NEUROTEC, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lars-Olof
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Wahlund
authors.affiliation: Memory Research Unit, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Erkinjunttii
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poggesi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pantoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Inzitari
authors.affiliation: Memory Disorders Research Group, Danish Dementia Research Center, Department of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Gunhild
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Waldemar
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000503:physiopathology; D003704:Dementia / Q000503:physiopathology; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology
keywords: age-related white matter changes; cognitive; executive function; memory; physical activity; processing speed