EXERCISE-INDUCED CEREBROVASULAR RESPONSIVENESS AND BRAIN AGING MARKERS

Abstract

At the interface of heart function and brain function is cerebrovascular function. The hundreds of miles of cerebrovasculature within our compact skulls exists to assure delivery of vital life substrates to brain tissue. A healthy cerebrovasculature is important to aging, as evidenced in age-related afflictions, including stroke and dementias. Cerebrovascular function is of tremendous interest to numerous fields, including, but not limited to, gerontology, physical therapy, rehabilitation medicine, psychology, neurology, and neurosurgery. Although we have made substantial advancements in understanding the aging brain, there are unanswered questions regarding cerebrovascular function which could ultimately impact our understanding of brain aging. This body of work addresses gaps regarding the role of cerebrovascular function in the aging brain, and it has potential clinical implications regarding cerebrovascular dysfunction in stroke and dementias. The aim of this work was to elucidate the links between resting and exercise-induced cerebrovascular function and three markers of brain aging: executive function, brain structural integrity, and β-amyloid, a cellular hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Our analyses of exercise-induced cerebrovascular functions revealed links between cerebrovascular responsiveness and these brain aging markers. Hence, the findings are a prelude to further investigation into cerebrovascular responsiveness and its links to brain aging. Long-term development of markers of cerebrovascular responsiveness may provide researchers and clinicians with surrogate markers of brain pathological risk, i.e., a non-invasive marker of stroke or dementia risk. This could then serve as the basis for implementing brain-sparing interventions, particularly exercise interventions in high-risk populations. Therefore, this work lays the foundation for assessing whether longitudinal exercise-induced cerebrovascular functions could serve as potential indicators of brain aging.