Yoga prevents grey matter volume decline in women at risk for Alzheimer’s Disease: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Female sex, subjective cognitive decline (SCD), and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) are known risk factors for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). We previously demonstrated that yoga improved depression, resilience, memory and executive functions, increased hippocampal choline concentrations and modulated brain connectivity in older adults with mild cognitive impairment. In this study (NCT03503669), we investigated brain gray matter volume (GMV) changes in older women with SCD and CVRF following three months of yoga compared to memory training (MET). Methods: Eleven women (mean age=61.45, SD=6.58) withCVRFandSCDcompleted twelveweeks of Kundalini yoga (KY) and Kirtan Kriya (KK), while elevenwomen (mean age = 64.55, SD = 6.41) underwent MET. T1-weighted MRI scans were acquired at baseline and follow-up using a Siemens 3T Prisma scanner. We used Freesurfer 6 and longitudinal two-step models to test group differences in symmetrized percent change in GMV. Resulting clusters were corrected and Monte-Carlo simulations applied at an alpha level of 0.05. Region-of-interest analysis was performed for hippocampus and amygdala. Results: Compared to KY+KK, MET showed reductions in GMV in left prefrontal, preand post-central, supramarginal, superior temporal and pericalcarine cortices, right paracentral, postcentral, superior and inferior parietal cortices, the banks of the superior temporal sulcus, and the pars opercularis. Right hippocampal volume increased after yoga but did not survive corrections. Conclusion: Yoga training may offer neuroprotective effects compared to MET in preventing neurodegenerative changes and cognitive decline, even over short time intervals. Future analyses will address changes in functional connectivity in both groups.