Brain activation during dual-task processing is associated with cardiorespiratory fitness and performance in older adults

TL;DR

Higher cardiorespiratory fitness in older adults is linked to better brain activation during dual tasks, which may improve cognitive performance.

Contribution

This study shows that brain activation in the ACC/SMA mediates the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and dual-task performance in older adults.

Findings

Higher cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with greater brain activation in regions like ACC/SMA, thalamus, and basal ganglia during dual tasks.

ACC/SMA activation specifically mediates the link between cardiorespiratory fitness and improved dual-task performance.

The findings suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness supports cognitive performance through enhanced brain activation in key regions.

Abstract

Higher cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with better cognitive performance and enhanced brain activation. Yet, the extent to which cardiorespiratory fitness-related brain activation is associated with better cognitive performance is not well understood. In this cross-sectional study, we examined whether the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and executive function was mediated by greater prefrontal cortex activation in healthy older adults. Brain activation was measured during dual-task performance with functional magnetic resonance imaging in a sample of 128 healthy older adults (59–80 years). Higher cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with greater activation during dual-task processing in several brain areas including the anterior cingulate and supplementary motor cortex (ACC/SMA), thalamus and basal ganglia, right motor/somatosensory cortex and middle frontal gyrus, and left somatosensory cortex, controlling for age, sex, education, and gray matter volume. Of these regions, greater ACC/SMA activation mediated the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and dual-task performance. We provide novel evidence that cardiorespiratory fitness may support cognitive performance by facilitating brain activation in a core region critical for executive function.

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