title: Changes in fMRI activation in anterior hippocampus and motor cortex during memory retrieval after an intense exercise intervention.
abstract: Strong evidence indicates that regular aerobic training induces beneficial effects on cognitive functions. The present controlled fMRI study was designed to investigate the impact of a short-term intense aerobic exercise on the pattern of functional activation during the retrieval of learned pair-associates in 17 young and healthy male adults compared to 17 matched control subjects. We further aimed to relate putative changes in hippocampal activation to postulated changes in the exercised-induced brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The supervised exercise program was performed on a bicycle ergometer and lasted six weeks, with three aerobic sessions per week. We found profound improvement of physical fitness in most subjects indicated by the target parameter 'individual anaerobic threshold'. Significant improvements in the cognitive performance were detected in the exercise group, but also in the control group. We observed significant differences in the activation pattern of the left anterior hippocampus during the pair-associates task after the intervention. We could also show a significant positive correlation between changes in exercise-induced BDNF and left anterior hippocampal activation. Moreover, we observed the brain's motor network to be significantly stronger activated after the exercise intervention. Thus, our results suggest BDNF dependent activation changes of the hippocampus in addition to previously described structural changes after exercise.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Brain & Body Research Group Jena, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Medicine and Health Promotion, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Herbsleb
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Brain & Body Research Group Jena, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Feliberto
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: de la Cruz
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Brain & Body Research Group Jena, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schumann
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Brain & Body Research Group Jena, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Köhler
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Medicine and Health Promotion, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Puta
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Medicine and Health Promotion, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Holger W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Gabriel
authors.affiliation: Medical Physics Group, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Michael Stifel Center for Data-driven and Simulation Science Jena, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Reichenbach
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Brain & Body Research Group Jena, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany. Electronic address: Karl-Juergen.Baer@med.uni-jena.de.
authors.forename: Karl-Jürgen
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Bär
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001642:Bicycling; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D010809:Physical Fitness; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; C579455:BDNF protein, human
keywords: BDNF; Exercise; Hippocampus; Memory