To GIH — The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences startpage

Plasma markers of neurodegeneration, cognition and physical activity in healthy aging

Plasmamarkörer för neurodegeneration, kognition och fysisk aktivitet hos friska äldre

Project Leader

  • Jonna Nilsson Horre

Department

  • Department of Physical Activity and Health

Research Funders

  • Knowledge Foundation

Abstract

Below you can read summaries about the project in English and/or Swedish. The information is taken from the publication database DiVA.

Physical activity has been related to lower risk of age-related cognitive decline, and intervention studies have demonstrated that physical activity can result in small but positive cognitive effects in healthy aging. However, our understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms of the potentially protective effect of physical activity for old-age cognition remains limited.

One possibility is that physical activity may delay or lessen age-related neurodegenerative processes in the brain, such as the damaging accumulation of amyloid-beta and tau. Whilst such neurodegenerative markers are defining features of Alzheimer’s disease, they start to accumulate several years before the appearance of clinical symptoms. Biomarkers of such neurodegenerative processes in the brain are traditionally measured with PET scanning, which is very costly and not easily accessible. Fortunately, new methods have recently been developed to measure the same markers in blood plasma, with good diagnostic capacity for Alzheimer's disease and for assessing the risk of future disease in cognitively healthy individuals.

In this sub-project of E-PABS, we collaborate with a prominent Swedish biopharmaceutical company - BioArctic - to measure these new neurodegenerative plasma markers in blood samples from an already completed study conducted at GIH. The project aims to explore whether there is a connection between neurodegenerative plasma markers and cognition in healthy older individuals, and how accelerometry-measured physical activity moderates these associations. In this way, the project represents a first step in investigating whether physical activity may protect our cognitive abilities through an impact on age-related neurodegenerative processes.

The project is part of E-PABS – a center of Excellence in Physical Activity, healthy Brain functions and Sustainability.

Fysisk aktivitet är relaterat till lägre risk för kognitivt åldrande och demenssjukdom, och interventionsstudier har visat att fysisk aktivitet kan leda till positiva kognitiva effekter hos friska och demenssjuka äldre. Vår kunskap om vilka biologiska mekanismer som skulle kunna ligga bakom den potentiellt skyddande effekten av fysisk aktivitet för kognitiv förmåga är däremot fortfarande begränsad.

En möjlighet är att fysisk aktivitet kan fördröja eller mildra åldersrelaterade neurodegenerativa processer i hjärnan, såsom den skadliga ackumulering av amyloid-beta och tau som tros orsaka Alzheimers sjukdom. Markörer av dessa processer i hjärnan mäts vanligtvis med PET-scanning, men metoden är tyvärr både kostsam och svårtillgänglig. Det är därför glädjande att nya metoder nyligen har utvecklats för att mäta samma markörer fast i blodplasma, med konstaterat god diagnostisk kapacitet för Alzheimers sjukdom men även för bedömning av risk för framtida sjukdom hos kognitivt friska individer.

I detta delprojekt inom E-PABS samarbetar vi med ett framstående svenskt biofarmaceutiskt företag - BioArctic - för att mäta dessa nya neurodegenerativa plasmamarkörer i blodprover från en redan slutförd studie som genomförts på GIH. Projektet syftar i korthet till att utforska om det finns samband mellan neurodegenerativa plasmamarkörer och kognition hos friska äldre, samt hur fysisk aktivitet mätt med accelerometri modererar dessa samband. På så sätt representerar projektet ett första steg i att undersöka om fysisk aktivitet verkar skydda vår kognitiva förmåga genom en påverkan på åldersrelaterade neurodegenerativa processer.

Projektet ingår i forskningsmiljön E-PABS – ett excellenscenter för fysisk aktivitet, hjärnhälsa och hållbarhet.

More information about the project

Previous research has suggested that physical activity can protect the brain from the neuronal death and impaired cognitive function that comes with aging. This research study aims to understand the biological mechanisms behind this potentially protective effect.

In a cross-sectional study on healthy older individuals, researchers at GIH, in collaboration with the biopharmaceutical company BioArctic, are investigating the relationships between new forms of blood biomarkers for neurodegenerative processes and healthy cognitive aging. The researchers are also studying how physical activity, measured through accelerometers, affects these relationships

Collaboration partners

The project is carried out in collaboration with a number of partners.

We work with:

  • AbbVie
  • BioArctic

E-PABS research environment

This project is part of the research environment E-PABS – a centre of excellence for physical activity, brain health and sustainability.

E-PABS has three main research themes, all of which focus on brain health:

  • The Neurophysiology of Exercise
  • Physical Activity Epidemiology
  • Sustainable behavioural change

This project is part of the theme "The Neurophysiology of Exercise"