Improvement of cognitive function in older adults based on near-infrared spectroscopy / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Cognitive aging is an age-related cognitive degeneration that can develop into a cognitive dysfunction in the end stage. There is no clear therapeutic principle in clinical practice, but it is generally recognized that exercises can delay cognitive aging. OBJECTIVE: To summarize the current progress and shortcomings of exercise-delayed cognitive aging based on near-infrared spectroscopy. METHODS: In line with the PRISMA guidelines, the first author searched PubMed, WOS, CNKI, and WanFang using the keywords of “exercise, near-infrared spectroscopy, cognition, elderly or older adults, cathepsin B, brain-derived neurotrophic factor” in Chinese and English, respectively. Literature addressing senile cognitive function based on the near-infrared spectroscopy technique was retrieved, and 37 eligible articles were retained for further analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: We performed a comprehensive analysis of exercise-delayed cognitive aging based on near-infrared spectroscopy and confirmed that exercise improves the activation of cortex in different brain regions and thus improves cognitive function. Long-term aerobic exercise has better effects in the improvement of cognitive function than short-term exercise, which is more conducive to delaying cognitive aging. The underlying physiological mechanism may be that exercise improves blood flow in the brain, stimulates the secretion of neurotrophic factors from the skeletal muscle, and promotes the growth, survival and proliferation of neurons. However, there is no uniform standard for the interventional strategies. There are many links to be further improved, such as integration of individual differences and indexes in different brain regions, procedures for testing physical conditions (cardiovascular and lung diseases), to enhance the reliability of relevant parameters.