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Effects of a brief HIIT intervention on cognitive performance in older women

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Abstract

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) mitigates age-related decline in cognition and brain volume. Little is known, however, about the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on cognitive aging and the relationship between HIIT, cognition, hippocampal subfield volumes, and cerebral oxygen extraction fraction (OEF). Older sedentary women participated in an 8-week HIIT intervention. We conducted cognitive assessments, fitness assessments (VO2max), MRI scans: asymmetric spin echo oxygen extraction fraction (ASE-OEF), high-resolution multiple image co-registration and averaging (HR-MICRA) imaging, and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography before and after the intervention. VO2max increased from baseline (M = 19.36, SD = 2.84) to follow-up (M = 23.25, SD = 3.61), Z =  − 2.93, p < .001, r = 0.63. Composite cognitive (Z =  − 2.05, p = 0.041), language (Z =  − 2.19, p = 0.028), and visuospatial memory (Z =  − 2.22, p = 0.026), z-scores increased significantly. Hippocampal subfield volumes CA1 and CA3 dentate gyrus and subiculum decreased non-significantly (all p > 0.05); whereas a significant decrease in CA2 (Z =  − 2.045, p = 0.041, r = 0.436) from baseline (M = 29.51; SD = 24.50) to follow-up (M = 24.50; SD = 13.38) was observed. Right hemisphere gray matter was correlated with language z-scores (p = 0.025; r = 0.679). The subiculum was correlated with attention (p = 0.047; r = 0.618) and verbal memory (p = 0.020; r = 0.700). The OEF and CBF were unchanged at follow-up (all p > .05). Although we observed cognitive improvements following 8 weeks of our HIIT intervention, they were not explained by hippocampal, OEF, or CBF changes.

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Funding

This manuscript was funded in part by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) 5 T32 GM109780-4 (AMN), NIHR01NS082561 (HA), NIHRF1NS116565 (HA), and The Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (RML).

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  1. Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 650 Sparks Center, 1720 7Th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA

    Amani M. Norling, Adam Gerstenecker, Lawrence Ver Hoef, Terina Myers, Benjamin S. Jones, Victor Del Bene & Ronald M. Lazar

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Amani M. Norling

  3. Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Amani M. Norling, Adam Gerstenecker, Mark S. Bolding, Terina Myers, Victor Del Bene & Ronald M. Lazar

  4. Department of Radiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Mark S. Bolding

  5. Center for Exercise Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Thomas Buford

  6. School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Randall Walden

  7. Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Hongyu An & Chunwei Ying

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Norling, A.M., Gerstenecker, A., Bolding, M.S. et al. Effects of a brief HIIT intervention on cognitive performance in older women. GeroScience 46, 1371–1384 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00893-4

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