Abstract #4813

Effects of physical exercise on hippocampal volume and vasculature in young adults

Antonia Kaiser^1,2,3, Michelle M Solleveld^1,2,3, Linda Knutsson⁴, Matthias JP van Osch⁵, Liesbeth Reneman^1,2, Paul J Lucassen^2,3, and Anouk Schrantee^1,2,3,6

¹Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ²Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ³Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neurosciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ⁴Department of Medical Radiation Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, ⁵C.J. Gorter Center for High Field MRI, Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands, ⁶Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, Netherlands

The underlying neurobiological changes of exercise-induced hippocampal volume increases are poorly understood, but a substantial role for vascular plasticity, such as perfusion and angiogenesis, has been suggested. We here studied the effect of a high and low intensity exercise intervention on the hippocampal volume and vasculature. Exercise did not induce hippocampal volume changes, despite a baseline association between fitness and volume. Interestingly, improved fitness resulted in increased hippocampal cerebral blood flow (CBF) (p=0.01) and gray matter CBF (p=0.07). No effect on cerebral blood volume was found. This may suggest that perfusion effects are not hippocampus-specific.

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