Understanding Cerebral Blood Flow Dynamics for Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Through Exercise

Summary

Dementia is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Underlying biological mechanisms are crucial in preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Alterations in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and their relationship with AD blood-based biomarkers may be fundamental at early stages of the pathology. Physical exercise is a trigger to modify these biological mechanisms. Therefore, flADex aims to examine the acute effects of different types of exercise (resistance vs. aerobic vs. control) on CBF, AD blood-based biomarkers, and its cognitive implications in older adults. The hypothesis is that acute resistance or aerobic exercise will fluctuate levels of blood-based biomarkers, and will exert acute CBF changes combined with cognitive implications.

Conditions

• Healthy Aging
• Cognitive Function 1, Social
• Cerebrovascular Circulation
• Blood Flow

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Aerobic exercise condition

Aerobic session will last 30 min. The average intensity of the aerobic sessions will be 60-70% of the Maximal Heart Rate. Therefore, participant will perform a continuous moderate intensity aerobic bout of exercise on a cycle ergometer.

BEHAVIORAL

Resistance exercise condition

Resistance exercise will last 30 min at 4-6 RPE (OMNI-Resistance Exercise Scale of Perceived Exertion from 0-10). The bout of resistance exercise will include a combination of upper and lower body exercises using elastic bands and the participants' body weight as the primary resistance. Eight different exercises will be performed per set, with 40 seconds per exercise, for a total of 3 sets. The exercises are based on basic movement patterns and include: glute bridge, front plank, standing face pull, incline push-up, squat, pallof press, walking lunge and seated shoulder press.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Hospital Virgen de las Nieves

  collaborator OTHER

• Instituto Mixto Universitario Deporte y Salud (iMUDS)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Centro de Investigación Mente, Cerebro y Comportamiento

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Universidad de Granada

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Irene Esteban-Cornejo, PhD · Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Spain.

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

68 Years

Max Age

83 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-09-25

Primary Completion

2025-01-02

Completion

2025-01-02

Countries

• Spain

Study Locations