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Objectives It has been suggested that exercise improves cognitive function and increases cerebral volume even in older people. However, the relation between cognitive function and brain volume is unclear. We evaluated the longitudinal change of cognitive function and gray matter volume due to mild-intensity exercise over 2 years, and the residual effects 6 months post-exercise. Methods Subjects were 110 healthy older individuals over 65 years old in Tone town, Ibaraki prefecture. Seventy-five participants were voluntarily enrolled in the exercise group. A mild-intensity calisthenics regimen, which consisted of home-based and club-based programs for as long as 2 years, was employed as the intervention for the exercise group. Results The exercise group showed significant improvement in attentional shift over the course of the observation period including a 6-month follow-up. Neuroimaging analysis revealed the significant preservation of bilateral prefrontal volume in the exercise group with small-volume corrections, although this effect faded after intervention. Furthermore, the longitudinal changes in attentional shift and memory were positively correlated with the prefrontal volumetric changes. Conclusion Our results suggest that mild-intensity exercise could prevent prefrontal volume reduction due to aging and impede cognitive decline. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Objectives Cerebral WMHs on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are common incidental findings in cognitively healthy elderly subjects. The relationship between such changes and cognitive function remains unclear. Methods The present study evaluated the relationship between the degree of white matter changes and cognitive function using data from 172 cognitively healthy subjects who underwent MRI and a battery of neuropsychological tests. The degree of WMHs was rated using a four-point scale for images on a computer screen. Results Regarding the frontal and parieto-occipital regions and basal ganglia region, compared with the group with no WMHs, the group with the most severe WMHs showed significantly lower performances for attention and disorientation to time, respectively. Conclusions Our results suggest that even in cognitively healthy elderly individuals, presence of large WMHs affects performance on certain cognitive domains according to their localization. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Background The results of previous reports estimating the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have varied widely according to the criteria used to define MCI. Methods We assessed the cognitive function of Japanese community-dwelling individuals ≥65 years old and attempted to estimate the prevalence of four MCI subtypes (amnestic single, amnestic multiple, nonamnestic single, and nonamnestic multiple) using two cutoffs (1 and 1.5 SD) below normative standard. Presence of apolipoprotein E4 allele (APOE4), which is known as a strong risk factor for AD, is reportedly associated with high risk of conversion from MCI to AD. We therefore calculated the frequency of APOE4 carriers for each MCI subtype. Results Initially 1888 (70%) of 2698 baseline samples participated, and 1433 (53%) subjects who had complete clinical data including APOE typing remained for the final analysis. The prevalence of MCI subtypes varied within the range of 1.7–16.6%, depending on the criteria applied. Prevalence of MCI was higher using a cutoff at −1.0 SD than at −1.5 SD, and prevalence of amnestic MCI single at −1.5 SD was lowest among all subtypes of MCI. Frequency of APOE4 was higher for amnestic MCI than for non-amnestic MCI or the cognitively normal group. Conclusion The prevalence of MCI was highly dependent on the diagnostic criteria applied. A higher frequency of APOE4 in participants with amnestic MCI subtype suggested a greater risk of future AD. For future interventions to delay the onset of dementia, targeting individuals with amnestic MCI multiple at −1 SD might be desirable. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

It has been suggested that exercise improves cognitive function and increases cerebral volume even in older people. However, the relation between cognitive function and brain volume is unclear. We evaluated the longitudinal change of cognitive function and gray matter volume due to mild-intensity exercise over 2 years, and the residual effects 6 months post-exercise.Subjects were 110 healthy older individuals over 65 years old in Tone town, Ibaraki prefecture. Seventy-five participants were voluntarily enrolled in the exercise group. A mild-intensity calisthenics regimen, which consisted of home-based and club-based programs for as long as 2 years, was employed as the intervention for the exercise group.The exercise group showed significant improvement in attentional shift over the course of the observation period including a 6-month follow-up. Neuroimaging analysis revealed the significant preservation of bilateral prefrontal volume in the exercise group with small-volume corrections, although this effect faded after intervention. Furthermore, the longitudinal changes in attentional shift and memory were positively correlated with the prefrontal volumetric changes.Our results suggest that mild-intensity exercise could prevent prefrontal volume reduction due to aging and impede cognitive decline.

Objective T2 white matter hyperintensity (WMH) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is associated with brain atrophy. Some previous studies examined the relation between the WMH and cortical atrophy, however, little is known about how the WMHs affect the pattern of cortical atrophy. Recent studies have revealed that patho-physiological role of WMH in affecting cortical atrophy may be different between hyperintensities in basal ganglia and thalami (B&T) and those in other regions. Based on a longitudinal study up to 5 years, we attempt to examine the temporal relation between the WMHs and cortical atrophy with special attention to the hyperintensities in the B&T. Methods We evaluated the temporal pattern of cortical atrophy in 74 cognitively normal subjects lacking hyperintensities in B&T (first analysis) and 13 cognitively normal subjects with hyperintensities in B&T (second analysis). The relationship between the baseline WMH severity and the cortical volume change during the observation period (mean: 3.8 years) was voxel basically evaluated on the images. Results The first analysis showed fairly axisymmetrical atrophy pattern in parietal, occipital, and precentral cortices, while the findings gained from the second appear to lack such systematic orderliness of the atrophy. Conclusion This result shows that WMH may affect atrophy in multiple cerebral cortices even in cognitively normal subjects. Understanding the impact of WMH on the shrinkage shown in the brains of cognitively healthy older individuals is an important base for assessing the temporal pattern of atrophy of the individual with neurodegenerative disorder like AD. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.