Project Title: The effects of resistance training on myelin and blood-based biomarkers of neuroplasticity in older adults

Co-funding Partner: Michael Smith Health Research BC

Grant Name: 2020 Trainee Award, jointly funded by Health Research BC & CLEAR

Grant Duration: 2020-2023 (three years)

Research Lay Summary:

Dr. Nárlon Cássio Boa Sorte Silva is investigating through his research if strength training exercises can reduce myelin loss and preserve vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) due to vascular risk factors (ex. High blood pressure).

Worldwide, VCI is the second most common cause of dementia and it is associated with myelin loss. Myelin is a component of neurons critical for transmission of brain signals. Thus, myelin is important for the maintenance of cognitive (i.e., thinking) abilities. Animal studies suggest myelin loss may be minimized with physical exercise. This will most likely be the first study to quantify the effect of a targeted exercise intervention on myelin loss or damage among adults with mild VCI.

With a new technique to capture images of myelin in a living human’s brain, this research has the unique potential to test whether resistance training (i.e., muscle strength training) is effective in preventing myelin loss, with changes in cognition and blood-biomarkers of neuroplasticity, thereby mitigating VCI progression.

The study will be conducted over 12 months with 88 adults that have VCI; half will receive strength training and half will receive balance and stretching exercises. At the end of study, the two groups will be compared on myelin content and cognitive function. Reducing myelin loss could preserve cognitive abilities in adults with VCI and reduce their risk of dementia.

Research Update(s):

There has been a focus on the development and implementation of a novel neuroimaging pipeline to analyze myelin content data from our randomized controlled trial. Using this myelin water imaging, a cutting-edge technique, requires intensive work and refinement of data cleaning and analysis methods for which I have co-written a manual that will serve for future use in Dr. Liu-Ambrose's laboratory.