Wang Zhan1,
Kristy A. Nielson2, 3, Piero Antuono3,
Jeri-Anne Lyons4, J. Carson Smith, 35
1Maryland
Neuroimaging Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States;
2Department of Psychology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI,
United States; 3Department of Neurology, Medical College of
Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States; 4Department of Biomedical
Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, United States; 5Department
of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
Physical exercise has been shown to improve cognitive function in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients, however, it is unknown if exercise training alters the cerebral white matter (WM) structure associated with the functional activations during memory retrieval. A longitudinal DTI study was performed to compare the fractional anisotropy (FA) alterations introduced by walk exercise interventions in 12 weeks for both MCI patients (N=15) and matched normal controls (N=17). Unexpectedly, our data indicate that both groups exhibited FA reductions in WM after the exercise intervention, and that the MCI patients show greater extent and greater spread of FA reductions compared to the controls.