Article

In humans, retrospective studies suggest that habitual physical
activity (PA) or cognitive activity (CA) can help maintain or improve cognitive
function. Similar findings have been reported using physical exercise in animal
studies; however, the exercise paradigms differ markedly in duration and
frequency, making extrapolation difficult. Here, the authors present a novel PA
and CA paradigm that combines voluntary wheel running with Hebb-Williams and
radial arm maze (RAM) training. METHODS: A total of 57 male Sprague-Dawley rats
were divided into 4 treatment groups: the PA, CA, and combined PA and CA groups
and sedentary controls. PA (voluntary wheel running) and CA (Hebb-Williams mazes)
consisted of a moderate 2 h/d, 5 d/wk treatment paradigm. RESULTS: Animals
exposed to a combination of PA and CA made significantly fewer working memory
errors and exhibited superior choice accuracy when compared with animals exposed
to either PA or CA alone in the 8-arm baited configuration of the RAM. Additional
analyses revealed that the cognitive improvements were independent of exercise
intensity/duration. Assessment of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels
revealed a significant increase in hippocampal BDNF only in the PA-alone group.
CONCLUSION: A novel combination of PA and CA improves learning and memory
abilities independent of activity intensity, BDNF, or phosphorylated cyclic AMP
response element binding protein levels. This is the first report of significant
changes in cognitive ability using a paradigm involving moderate levels of PA
plus cognitive stimulation. An adaptation of this paradigm may be particularly
beneficial in slowing the development of mild cognitive impairment and subsequent
dementia in elderly people.

Langue : ANGLAIS