Exercise as a Treatment for Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: The Role of Growth Factors and Inflammatory Cytokines

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the effects that exercise modalities have on neurotrophic and inflammatory blood markers and cognitive outcomes in older adults. A systematic review and meta-analysis were completed. The included studies illustrated that most of the literature evaluated the effect of aerobic exercise interventions on systemic concentrations of the blood marker brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The review found that aerobic exercise increases BDNF and resistance training increases insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Interventions with sex-specific cohorts presented advantages in males for blood marker and cognitive outcomes compared to females. One of three included interventions decreased C-reactive protein (CRP). This thesis demonstrated the presence of modality-specific outcomes of exercise on blood markers and presents a targeted review of the literature evaluating exercise, cognition, and blood markers