title: Combined effects of physical exercise and education on age-related cortical thinning in cognitively normal individuals.
abstract: We investigated the association between self-reported physical exercise and cortical thickness in a large sample of cognitively normal individuals. We also determined whether a combination of physical exercise and education had more protective effects on age-related cortical thinning than either parameter alone. A total of 1,842 participants were included in this analysis. Physical exercise was assessed using a questionnaire regarding intensity, frequency, and duration. Cortical thickness was measured using a surface-based method. Longer duration of exercise (≥1 hr/day), but not intensity or frequency, was associated with increased mean cortical thickness globally (P-value = 0.013) and in the frontal regions (P-value = 0.007). In particular, the association of exercise with cortical thinning had regional specificity in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal, precuneus, left postcentral, and inferior parietal regions. The combination of higher exercise level and higher education level showed greater global and frontal mean thickness than either parameter alone. Testing for a trend with the combination of high exercise level and high education level confirmed this finding (P-value = 0.001-0.003). Our findings suggest that combined exercise and education have important implications for brain health, especially considering the paucity of known protective factors for age-related cortical thinning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin San
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Health Promotion Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hee Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, Korea.|Neuroscience Center, Samsung Medical Center 06351, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hee Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, Korea.|Neuroscience Center, Samsung Medical Center 06351, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Kyoung
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Na-Yeon
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Juyoun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Yeo Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine Behavioral Emergencies Research Lab, San Diego, CA, USA.|Department of Biology, University of California San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin-Ju
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Health Promotion Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Mira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Key-Chung
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, Korea.|Neuroscience Center, Samsung Medical Center 06351, Seoul, Korea.|Department of Health Sciences and Technology, SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 06351, Korea.
authors.forename: Duk L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Na
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, Korea.|Neuroscience Center, Samsung Medical Center 06351, Seoul, Korea.|Department of Health Sciences and Technology, SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 06351, Korea.|Department of Clinical Research Design &Evaluation, SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 06351, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Seo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D004493:Education; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires