Effects of Exercise Training in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early Alzheimer's Disease
Condition: Mild CognitIve Impairment; Alzheimer's Disease
MeSH terms: Alzheimer Disease; Cognitive Dysfunction
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purposes of this study are:

        1. To investigate whether a 3-month exercise training program would improve cognitive
           function, motor performance, integrity of brain fiber tracts and cerebral blood flow;

        2. To investigate the possible neuro-anatomical and neurophysiological mechanisms of
           exercise training on cognitive function, motor performance, integrity of brain fiber
           tract and cerebral blood flow in patients with mild cognitive impairment and in those
           with early Alzheimer's disease;

        3. To investigate the influence of different apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes on the
           above-mentioned exercise effects.

      The results of this study will provide medical evidence for the effects of exercise training
      on mild cognitive impairment and on early Alzheimer's disease; and will provide understanding
      of the mechanisms mediating these effects. More importantly, the results serve as the basis
      for future larger-scale exercise clinical trials for these two patient populations.
    

Detailed description: 
      Recent studies have shown that exercise training could decrease the risk of dementia in the
      elderly population. Exercise training could also slow down the speed of deterioration of
      memory and other cognitive functions in patients who already have mild cognitive impairment
      or early Alzheimer's disease. However, the mechanisms of such effects are still unknown.
      Whether exercise training could improve neural fiber integrity, blood flow, or motor
      performance of these patients also remain unexplored.

      Therefore, the purposes of this study are:

        1. To investigate whether a 3-month exercise training program would improve cognitive
           function, motor performance, integrity of brain fiber tracts and cerebral blood flow;

        2. To investigate the possible neuro-anatomical and neurophysiological mechanisms of
           exercise training on cognitive function, motor performance, integrity of brain fiber
           tract and cerebral blood flow in patients with mild cognitive impairment and in those
           with early Alzheimer's disease;

        3. To investigate the influence of different APOE genotypes on the above-mentioned exercise
           effects.

      We will conduct a single-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial. We will recruit 60
      patients with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's disease. The participants will
      be randomly classified into the exercise training group or control group. The exercise
      training group will receive health education and exercise training of moderate intensity, 3
      times a week, for 12 weeks. The control group will receive health education only. Both groups
      will receive pre- (week 0), post- (week 12), and follow-up (week 24 after the end of the
      program) examinations for cognitive function, motor performance, diffusion tensor or
      diffusion spectrum magnetic resonance imaging, and transcranial duplex. We will compare the
      group differences on the aforementioned outcome measures brought by 12-week exercise
      training. We will also perform analysis of the correlations between the changes in these
      outcome measures to explore the possible neural or physiological mechanisms mediating the
      training effects. The effects of different APOE genotypes on these outcome measures will also
      be compared.

      The results of this study will provide medical evidence for the effects of exercise training
      on mild cognitive impairment and on early Alzheimer's disease; and will provide understanding
      of the mechanisms mediating these effects. More importantly, the results serve as the basis
      for future larger-scale exercise clinical trials for these two patient populations.
    

Intervention name(s): Aerobic exercise; Stretch exercise
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Aerobic exercise and dual-task training; Stretch exercise & sitting balance
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Mild CognitIve impairment; Alzheimer's disease; Cognitive function; Exercise training