Blood Flow Restriction and High-intense Resistance Training in Aging: Interactions Between Neuroplasticity and Muscle

Resistance Training and Muscle - Brain Crosstalk

BRAIN-M is a randomized controlled trial designed to examine the effects of a single bout or 12 weeks of blood-flow restriction training or high-intensity resistance training on cognitive function, brain health, muscular properties and physical performance in healthy older men 60-75 years old.

The BRAIN-M project is driven by the idea that understanding the mechanisms through which muscle and brain interact could offer new approaches to magnifying the beneficial and detrimental effects of exercise training on health at older age. Specifically, the investigators aim at identifying brain, blood, and muscle biomarkers that could serve as predictors of response to exercise training at either cognitive, brain, muscle or physical performance levels and study the associations between biomarkers in order to suggest a physiological model of brain-muscle and muscle-brain crosstalk in ageing. 60 male older adults (60-75y old) will be included in either 12 weeks of high-intense blood-flow restriction training (n = 20), muscle damaging resistance training (n = 20) or no exercise (n = 20). The control group will be asked to maintain their usual lifestyle.

Inclusion Criteria:

• healthy male older adults
• able to speak and read fluent Lithuanian
• living in community during the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• cognitive and neurological disorders (e.g. dementia, stroke, Parkinson, multiple sclerosis)
• previous lower extremity injury
• diabetes mellitus type I or II
• no oncologic disease
• no bone fractures in the previous year
• deep vein thrombosis
• cardiovascular disorders (e.g. congestive heart failure, angina pectoris, uncontrolled arrhythmia, history of myocardial infarction or coronary bypass grafting in the past year)
• obesity (BMI >30kg/m²)
• chronic fatigue, chronic headache, or chronic dizziness
• ineligibility to MRI scanning (e.g. due to claustrofobia or metal implants)
• The participants should not be engaged in any regular exercise programme during the previous 6 months (according to IPAQ), but able to perform 10 sit-ups
• Any other consideration that interferes with the study aims and/or risk to the participant, at the discretion of the researcher