This episode is a conversation about the complex and important relationship between physical activity and brain health. Topics covered include specific impacts of physical activity (including formal exercise) and sedentary behavior on brain health; measurement of physical activity; reduction in the risk of later life cognitive decline (including neurodegenerative diseases); findings from neuroimaging, cognitive testing, and mental health reporting; mechanisms of physical activity’s impact on brain health; protocols for exercising to improve brain health; aerobic and resistance training; person characteristics that moderate the relationship between physical activity and brain health; and how neuropsychologists can implement physical activity interventions in their patients.
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Guest disclosures: None.
About Kirk
Dr. Kirk Erickson is Director of Translational Neuroscience and Mardian J. Blair Endowed Chair of Neuroscience at the AdventHealth Research Institute, Neuroscience Institute. Dr. Erickson received his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was a post-doctoral scholar at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Engineering. He was also a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the Univeristy of Pittsburgh before starting at AdventHealth. Dr. Erickson’s vast research program focuses on the effects of physical activity on brain health across the lifespan. This research has resulted in > 250 published articles and 15 book chapters.
Dr. Erickson’s research has been funded by numerous awards and grants from NIH, the Alzheimer’s Association, and other organizations. He has been awarded a large multi-site Phase III clinical trial examining the impact of exercise on cognitive function in cognitively normal older adults. His research resulted in the prestigious Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award from the University of Pittsburgh. He was named a Fellow of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research in 2016, and a Distinguished Scientist Award by Murdoch University in 2018. He currently holds a Visiting Professor appointment at the University of Granada, Spain.
Dr. Erickson was a member of the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee, and chair of the Brain Health subcommittee charged with developing the second edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. His research has been featured in a long list of print, radio, and electronic media including the New York Times, CNN, BBC News, NPR, Time, and the Wall Street Journal.
References
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Augusto-Oliveira, M., Arrifano, G. P., Leal-Nazaré, C. G., Santos-Sacramento, L., Lopes-Araújo, A., Royes, L. F. F., & Crespo-Lopez, M. E. (2023). Exercise reshapes the brain: molecular, cellular, and structural changes associated with cognitive improvements. Molecular Neurobiology, 60(12), 6950-6974.
Balbim, G. M., Boa Sorte Silva, N. C., Ten Brinke, L., Falck, R. S., Hortobágyi, T., Granacher, U., … & Liu-Ambrose, T. (2024). Aerobic exercise training effects on hippocampal volume in healthy older individuals: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Geroscience, 46(2), 2755-2764.
Barha, C. K., Galea, L. A., Nagamatsu, L. S., Erickson, K. I., & Liu-Ambrose, T. (2017). Personalising exercise recommendations for brain health: considerations and future directions. British journal of sports medicine, 51(8), 636-639.
Dotson, V. M., Gradone, A. M., Bogoian, H. R., Minto, L. R., Taiwo, Z., & Salling, Z. N. (2021). Be fit, be sharp, be well: the case for exercise as a treatment for cognitive impairment in late-life depression. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 27(8), 776-789.
Erickson, K. I., Donofry, S. D., Sewell, K. R., Brown, B. M., & Stillman, C. M. (2022). Cognitive aging and the promise of physical activity. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 18(1), 417-442.
Erickson, K. I., Hillman, C., Stillman, C. M., Ballard, R. M., Bloodgood, B., Conroy, D. E., … & Powell, K. E. (2019). Physical activity, cognition, and brain outcomes: a review of the 2018 physical activity guidelines. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 51(6), 1242-1251.
Mikkelsen, K., Stojanovska, L., Polenakovic, M., Bosevski, M., & Apostolopoulos, V. (2017). Exercise and mental health. Maturitas, 106, 48-56.
Sewell, K. R., Smith, N. D., Rainey-Smith, S. R., Peiffer, J., Sohrabi, H. R., Erickson, K. I., & Brown, B. M. (2023). The effect of acute exercise on objectively measured sleep and cognition in older adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1207199.
