Effects of Moderate Intensity Exercise on the Cortical Thickness and Subcortical Volumes of Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease Patients: A Pilot Study

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to explore the impact of moderate intensity exercise on the cortical thickness and subcortical volumes of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. METHODS: Sixty-three preclinical AD patients with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 18-florbetaben positron emission tomography (PET) data were enrolled in the study. Information on demographic characteristics, cognitive battery scores, self-reported exercise habits were attained. Structural magnetic resonance images were analyzed and processed using Freesurfer v6.0. RESULTS: Compared to Exercise group, Non-Exercise group demonstrated reduced cortical thickness in left parstriangularis, rostral middle frontal, entorhinal, superior frontal, lingual, superior parietal, lateral occipital, inferior parietal gyrus, temporal pole, precuneus, insula, fusiform gyrus, right precuneus, superiorparietal, lateral orbitofrontal, rostral middle frontal, medial orbitofrontal, superior frontal, lingual, middle temporal gyrus, insula, supramarginal, parahippocampal, paracentral gyrus. Volumes of right thalamus, caudate, putamen, pallidum, hippocampus, amygdala were also reduced in Non-Exercise group. CONCLUSION: Moderate intensity exercise affects cortical and subcortical structures in preclinical AD patients. Thus, physical exercise has a potential to be an effective intervention to prevent future cognitive decline in those at high risk of AD.