Six-Minute Walking Distance Correlated with Memory and Brain Volume in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study

• Main Authors: Hyuma Makizako, Hiroyuki Shimada, Takehiko Doi, Hyuntae Park, Daisuke Yoshida, Takao Suzuki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Karger Publishers 2013-08-01
• Series: Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders Extra
• Subjects: Exercise capacity; Logical memory; Cognitive impairment; Walking; Visual memory; Brain atrophy; Fitness
• Online Access: http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/354189

Background/Aims: High fitness levels play an important role in maintaining memory function and delaying the progression of structural brain changes in older people at risk of developing dementia. However, it is unclear which specific regions of the brain volume are associated with exercise capacity. We investigated whether exercise capacity, determined by a 6-min walking distance (6MWD), is associated with measures of logical and visual memory and where gray matter regions correlate with exercise capacity in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: Ninety-one community-dwelling older adults with MCI completed a 6-min walking test, structural magnetic resonance imaging scanning, and memory tests. The Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised Logical Memory and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Tests were used to assess logical and visual memory, respectively. Results: The logical and visual memory tests were positively correlated with the 6MWD (p Conclusions: These results suggest that a better 6MWD performance may be related to better memory function and the maintenance of gray matter volume in older adults with MCI.