The effect of aerobic dance intervention on brain spontaneous activity in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: A resting-state functional MRI study

The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of a specially designed moderate-intensity aerobic dance (SDMIAD) on brain spontaneous activity in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI). A total of 38 subjects with MCI were recruited to the current study and were randomized into two groups: Exercise (EG, n=19) and control (CG, n=19). The EG was treated with a SDMIAD and usual care for 3 months. The CG only received usual care. None of the patients were administered medicine that affected cognition during the intervention. The cognitive assessments and RS-fMRI examination were performed on the two groups at recruitment and after 3 months. The cognitive functions were assessed by various neuropsychological tests. The brain spontaneous activity change was assessed using an index, the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of fMRI signal. Cognitive assessments demonstrated that EG had significantly improved results in the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised Logical Memory (WMS-R LM) and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (all P<0.05), and the difference in changes in WMS-R LM from baseline to 3 months between the EG and the CG was also statistically significant (P<0.05) after 3 months of SDMIAD. The performance of all the cognitive assessments did not demonstrate significant differences in CG. Compared with baseline, EG exhibited significantly increased ALFF in several areas, including the bilateral fronto-temporal, entorhinal, anterior cingulate and parohippocampal cortex after 3 months of SDMIAD (P<0.05); whereas the CG exhibited significantly increased ALFF only in a few areas, including right temporal and posterior cingulate cortex (P<0.05). The SDMIAD may effectively improve the cognitive function in older adults with MCI. RS-fMRI provided a quantitative method for evaluating the effect of aerobic exercise on cognitive function.