# The effects of acute aerobic exercise on hippocampal function and microstructure in older adults

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · 2021 · $44,782

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Memory decline is a pervasive complaint of older adults and can exact an enormous emotional,
physical, and economic toll on individuals, their loved ones, and society. Meanwhile, physical inactivity is one
of the most significant modifiable risk factors for dementia. Specifically, exercise and physical activity
interventions appear to benefit and preserve the hippocampal subfield structures, regions that play a critical
role in memory processes and are an early site of neurodegeneration and dementia progression. However,
researchers and public health experts still do not know the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms by
which exercise might afford these benefits. Without a comprehensive understanding of exercise's mechanistic
effects on the aging brain, it remains hard to determine and implement optimized and individualized exercise
training interventions. Thus, it is critical to conduct acute exercise studies using advanced neuroimaging and
behavioral measures to characterize a single exercise session's underlying neurophysiological effects on the
aging brain. This proposed project provides a unique training opportunity under established mentors centered
on the impact of acute exercise on hippocampal subfield function and microstructure in older adults. To
accomplish this, we will employ methods developed in each mentors’ laboratory, including pattern separation
performance, task-based fMRI, and HARDI-based measures. The data from these cost- and time-efficient
acute exercise studies can then be combined with and inform future optimized exercise training plans for older
adults with memory deficits and who are at risk of cognitive decline. Previous acute exercise work has rarely
used neuroimaging techniques or hippocampal subfield specific cognitive tasks, and even fewer have
conducted these types of studies in older adults. Whereas previously we demonstrated that acute exercise
elicits alterations in gross hippocampal function and structure, here we want to build on this work by
concomitantly examining the impact of acute exercise on memory performance and hippocampal subfield
function and microstructure. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to use an age-susceptible and highly
hippocampal-specific pattern separation task, along with advanced functional and diffusion imaging methods to
characterize the effects of acute exercise on hippocampal subfield microstructure and function in older adults
following an acute bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Using these advanced imaging protocols and a
highly hippocampal-specific and age-susceptible behavioral paradigm in an acute exercise intervention will
help elucidate the immediate effects of aerobic exercise on important age-susceptible memory networks. The
results of this study will help future clinical trials implement optimized exercise interventions and
neurophysiological measures that will be informative and beneficial for understanding the effects of e...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10314779
- **Project number:** 1F31AG074670-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
- **Principal Investigator:** Daniel Callow
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $44,782
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-01-01 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10314779

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10314779, The effects of acute aerobic exercise on hippocampal function and microstructure in older adults (1F31AG074670-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10314779. Licensed CC0.

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