The goal of this observational study is to investigate the cross-sectional relationship between physical activity and brain health from a multiscale approach (neuropsychology, neuroimaging, peripheral biomarkers and genetics) in former athletes and sedentary individuals. The main question it aims to answer is:
Do former athletes have better brain structure than sedentary people? Evaluating the differences in neurodegenerative processes between competitive training and sedentary and inactivity.
Eligibility
Sex
ALL
Min age
40 Years
Max age
75 Years
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Inclusion Criteria:
* Group A: ex-athletes and continue to perform regular physical exercise (minimum 3 days/week of moderate-vigorous intensity).
* Group B: sedentary individuals, (i.e., perform \<150 min of moderate intensity exercise per week or IPAQ score\<600 MET min/week).
* In both groups (A and B) the conditions of physical exercise or sedentary lifestyle must have been maintained for at least 6 months prior to the evaluations.
* Not having a history of neurological or psychiatric disorder or suffering from a serious medical condition
Exclusion Criteria:
* Medical conditions that have a high risk of associated cognitive symptoms.
* Severe head injury with loss of consciousness within the previous 5 years.
* Alcoholism (\>3 alcoholic drinks per day).
* Chronic use of anxiolytics, neuroleptics, narcotics, anticonvulsants, or sedative hypnotics.
* Hearing or visual impairment that would preclude testing
* History of neurological disease with clinically relevant impact on cognition (e.g. cerebrovascular disease).
* Incidental structural brain findings with impact on cognitive impairment or survival (e.g., malignant brain tumor).
* Presence of severe systemic disease (e.g., cancer under treatment).
* Consumption of anabolic substances.
* Problems understanding spoken or written Spanish.
* Those with pacemakers or metallic implants that may interfere with the MRI.
Primary outcome measure(s)
Concentration of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in plasma (pg/mL) — Baseline Measured with ELISA kit (e.g., R\&D Systems, Cat. #DY248). Higher BDNF reflects greater neurotrophic support.
Concentration of total tau protein in plasma (pg/mL) — Baseline Assayed by high-sensitivity ELISA (e.g., Cusabio, Cat. #CSB-E13913h). Greater tau concentration indicates increased axonal injury or neurodegeneration.
Hippocampal volume measured by high-resolution 3 T T1-weighted MRI (mm³) — Baseline Volume extracted with FreeSurfer; Larger values indicate greater hippocampal integrity
Resting-state functional connectivity between primary motor cortex and supplementary motor area measured by 3 T fMRI (Fisher-Z) — Baseline Fisher-Z transformed correlation computed with CONN; Higher values indicate stronger connectivity
Trail Making Test Part A completion time (seconds) — Baseline Visual attention and processing speed measured by TMT-A; time to connect 25 numbers in ascending order recorded. Shorter times indicate better performance.
Digit Span Backward maximum span length (digits) — Baseline Working memory measured with WAIS-IV Digit Span Backward; Longest correctly repeated backward sequence recorded. Higher scores indicate better working memory.
Trail Making Test Part B completion time (seconds) — Baseline Executive function (set-shifting) assessed by TMT-B; Time to alternately connect numbers and letters recorded. Shorter times indicate better executive control.
Verbal fluency (F-A-S) total words in 60 s (count) — Baseline Phonemic fluency tested with Controlled Oral Word Association Test (letters F, A, S, 60 s each); total correct words across three letters. Higher counts indicate better executive retrieval fluency.
Stroop Color-Word interference score (seconds) — Baseline Inhibition assessed with Golden Stroop test; The count of completions within 45 seconds is recorded. Lower times reflect better inhibitory control.
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) total score (0 - 30 points) — Baseline 10-minute screening of global cognition covering memory, attention, language, visuospatial, and executive domains. Values ≥ 26 are considered normal. Higher scores indicate better cognition.
Number of participants carrying at least one APOE ε4 allele (count of participants) — Baseline Genomic DNA isolated from EDTA whole blood; APOE genotyping by TaqMan SNP assays rs429358 and rs7412. Any ε4-containing genotype (ε2/ε4, ε3/ε4, ε4/ε4) classified as "ε4 carrier". Higher counts = higher ε4 prevalence.
Trial sites (1)
Facility
City
Region
Status
Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences (INEF)
Madrid
Madrid
Recruiting
More Technical University of Madrid trials in Spain
This page summarises publicly available registry data for informational purposes — not medical advice. Eligibility is determined by each study team; patients should discuss participation with their clinician.
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