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Effects of Physical Exercise Combined with Nutritional Supplements on Aging Brain Related Structures and Functions: A Systematic Review.

ABSTRACT: Age-related decline in gray and white brain matter goes together with cognitive depletion. To influence cognitive functioning in elderly, several types of physical exercise and nutritional intervention have been performed. This paper systematically reviews the potential additive and complementary effects of nutrition/nutritional supplements and physical exercise on cognition. The search strategy was developed for EMBASE, Medline, PubMed, Cochrane, CINAHL, and PsycInfo databases and focused on the research question: "Is the combination of physical exercise with nutrition/nutritional supplementation more effective than nutrition/nutritional supplementation or physical exercise alone in effecting on brain structure, metabolism, and/or function?" Both mammalian and human studies were included. In humans, randomized controlled trials that evaluated the effects of nutrition/nutritional supplements and physical exercise on cognitive functioning and associated parameters in healthy elderly (>65 years) were included. The systematic search included English and German language literature without any limitation of publication date. The search strategy yielded a total of 3129 references of which 67 studies met the inclusion criteria; 43 human and 24 mammalian, mainly rodent, studies. Three out of 43 human studies investigated a nutrition/physical exercise combination and reported no additive effects. In rodent studies, additive effects were found for docosahexaenoic acid supplementation when combined with physical exercise. Although feasible combinations of physical exercise/nutritional supplements are available for influencing the brain, only a few studies evaluated which possible combinations of nutrition/nutritional supplementation and physical exercise might have an effect on brain structure, metabolism and/or function. The reason for no clear effects of combinatory approaches in humans might be explained by the misfit between the combinations of nutritional methods with the physical interventions in the sense that they were not selected on sharing of similar neuronal mechanisms. Based on the results from this systematic review, future human studies should focus on the combined effect of docosahexaenoic acid supplementation and physical exercise that contains elements of (motor) learning.

SUBMITTER: Schattin A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4933713 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effects of Physical Exercise Combined with Nutritional Supplements on Aging Brain Related Structures and Functions: A Systematic Review.

Schättin Alexandra A Baur Kilian K Stutz Jan J Wolf Peter P de Bruin Eling D ED

Frontiers in aging neuroscience 20160706

Age-related decline in gray and white brain matter goes together with cognitive depletion. To influence cognitive functioning in elderly, several types of physical exercise and nutritional intervention have been performed. This paper systematically reviews the potential additive and complementary effects of nutrition/nutritional supplements and physical exercise on cognition. The search strategy was developed for EMBASE, Medline, PubMed, Cochrane, CINAHL, and PsycInfo databases and focused on th ...[more]

PMID: 27458371

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Over the past several decades, complementary and alternative medications have increasingly become a part of everyday treatment. With the rising cost of prescription medications and their production of unwanted side effects, patients are exploring herbal and other natural remedies for the management and treatment of psychological conditions. Psychological disorders are one of the most frequent conditions seen by clinicians, and often require a long-term regimen of prescription medications. Approximately 6.8 million Americans suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. Many also suffer from the spectrum of behavioural and physical side effects that often accompany its treatment. It is not surprising that there is universal interest in finding effective natural anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) treatments with a lower risk of adverse effects or withdrawal. METHODS: An electronic and manual search was performed through MEDLINE/PubMed and EBSCO. Articles were not discriminated by date of publication. Available clinical studies published in English that used human participants and examined the anxiolytic potential of dietary and herbal supplements were included. Data were extracted and compiled into tables that included the study design, sample population, intervention, control, length of treatment, outcomes, direction of evidence, and reported adverse events. RESULTS: A total of 24 studies that investigated five different CAM monotherapies and eight different combination treatments and involved 2619 participants met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. There were 21 randomized controlled trials and three open-label, uncontrolled observational studies. Most studies involved patients who had been diagnosed with either an anxiety disorder or depression (n = 1786). However, eight studies used healthy volunteers (n = 877) who had normal levels of anxiety, were undergoing surgery, tested at the upper limit of the normal range of a trait anxiety scale, had adverse premenstrual symptoms or were peri-menopausal, reported anxiety and insomnia, or had one month or more of elevated generalized anxiety. Heterogeneity and the small number of studies for each supplement or combination therapy prevented a formal meta-analysis. Of the randomized controlled trials reviewed, 71% (15 out of 21) showed a positive direction of evidence. Any reported side effects were mild to moderate. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the available evidence, it appears that nutritional and herbal supplementation is an effective method for treating anxiety and anxiety-related conditions without the risk of serious side effects. There is the possibility that any positive effects seen could be due to a placebo effect, which may have a significant psychological impact on participants with mental disorders. However, based on this systematic review, strong evidence exists for the use of herbal supplements containing extracts of passionflower or kava and combinations of L-lysine and L-arginine as treatments for anxiety symptoms and disorders. Magnesium-containing supplements and other herbal combinations may hold promise, but more research is needed before these products can be recommended to patients. St. John's wort monotherapy has insufficient evidence for use as an effective anxiolytic treatment.

Project description:Studies have shown that aerobic exercise has the potential to improve cognition and reduce brain atrophy in older adults. However, the literature is equivocal with regards to the specificity or generality of these effects. To this end, we report results on cognitive function and brain structure from a 6-month training intervention with 60 sedentary adults (64-78 years) randomized to either aerobic training or stretching and toning control training. Cognitive functions were assessed with a neuropsychological test battery in which cognitive constructs were measured using several different tests. Freesurfer was used to estimate cortical thickness in frontal regions and hippocampus volume. Results showed that aerobic exercisers, compared to controls, exhibited a broad, rather than specific, improvement in cognition as indexed by a higher "Cognitive score," a composite including episodic memory, processing speed, updating, and executive function tasks (p = 0.01). There were no group differences in cortical thickness, but additional analyses revealed that aerobic fitness at baseline was specifically related to larger thickness in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), and hippocampus volume was positively associated with increased aerobic fitness over time. Moreover, "Cognitive score" was related to dlPFC thickness at baseline, but changes in "Cognitive score" and dlPFC thickness were associated over time in the aerobic group only. However, aerobic fitness did not predict dlPFC change, despite the improvement in "Cognitive score" in aerobic exercisers. Our interpretation of these observations is that potential exercise-induced changes in thickness are slow, and may be undetectable within 6-months, in contrast to change in hippocampus volume which in fact was predicted by the change in aerobic fitness. To conclude, our results add to a growing literature suggesting that aerobic exercise has a broad influence on cognitive functioning, which may aid in explaining why studies focusing on a narrower range of functions have sometimes reported mixed results.

Dataset Information

Effects of Physical Exercise Combined with Nutritional Supplements on Aging Brain Related Structures and Functions: A Systematic Review.

Publications

Effects of Physical Exercise Combined with Nutritional Supplements on Aging Brain Related Structures and Functions: A Systematic Review.

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