Biological Sex: A Potential Moderator of Physical Activity Efficacy on Brain Health

Cindy K Barha; Chun-Liang Hsu; Lisanne Ten Brinke; Teresa Liu-Ambrose

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2019.00329

Biological Sex: A Potential Moderator of Physical Activity Efficacy on Brain Health

Front Aging Neurosci. 2019 Dec 6:11:329. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2019.00329. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Cindy K Barha^{1

2

3}, Chun-Liang Hsu^{1

2

3}, Lisanne Ten Brinke^{1

2

3}, Teresa Liu-Ambrose^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
² Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
³ Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Abstract

The number of older people worldwide living with cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases is growing at an unprecedented rate. Despite accumulating evidence that engaging in physical activity is a promising primary behavioral strategy to delay or avert the deleterious effects of aging on brain health, a large degree of variation exists in study findings. Thus, before physical activity and exercise can be prescribed as "medicine" for promoting brain health, it is imperative to understand how different biological factors can attenuate or amplify the effects of physical activity on cognition at the individual level. In this review article, we briefly discuss the current state of the literature, examining the relationship between physical activity and brain health in older adults and we present the argument that biological sex is a potent moderator of this relationship. Additionally, we highlight some of the potential neurobiological mechanisms underlying this sex difference for this relatively new and rapidly expanding line of research.

Keywords: aging; cognition; dementia; exercise; hippocampus; physical activity; prefrontal cortex; sex differences.

Publication types

Review