Epigenetic Aging Cognitive Function and Exercise in Older Adults

Abstract In the United States, 1 in 9 individuals 65 and older and one third of individuals 85 and older have Alzheimer’s dementia (AD). By age 70, age-related cognitive decline is nearly ubiquitous with signs of mild cognitive impairment in a large portion of older adults. Exercise is a promising intervention to mitigate cognitive

decline in older adults, however response to exercise varies. Epigenetic age, particularly accelerated epigenetic aging, has been linked to neurodegenerative disorders including AD, other types of dementia and cognitive aging. Understanding the impact of social determinants of health (SDoH) on epigenetic aging is

gaining momentum with several studies implicating cumulative lifetime stress, lifestyle, early life adversity, and neighborhood context with epigenetic age acceleration. The impact of exercise on DNA methylation is well established and its impact on epigenetic aging is a burgeoning area of research. Elucidating biologic

underpinnings related to variability in cognitive function (CF), brain health (BH), biomarkers of AD, and response to exercise are necessary to improve mitigation of age-related cognitive decline. The overarching hypothesis for this project is that heterogeneity of biological aging explains variation in CF, BH, biomarkers of

AD, and response to exercise in non-cognitively impaired older adults. This project will be accomplished by harnessing the data and biospecimens collected through the Investigating Gains in Neurocognition in an Intervention Trial of exercise (IGNITE) project. Participants (n=648) were 65-80-years old, community dwelling,

not cognitively impaired individuals who exercised