Michele Porcu, Luigi Cocco, Vinodh A Kumar, Jasjit S Suri, Abdelkader Mahammedi, Francesco Marrosu, Luca Saba
{"title":"Differential tractography suggests a \"left-to-whole\" white matter degeneration pattern in aging.","authors":"Michele Porcu, Luigi Cocco, Vinodh A Kumar, Jasjit S Suri, Abdelkader Mahammedi, Francesco Marrosu, Luca Saba","doi":"10.1007/s11682-026-01115-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11682-026-01115-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We aim to investigate the progression of aging-related white matter (WM) degeneration, measured by fractional anisotropy (FA), in cognitively normal, healthy individuals over a long-term follow-up of 8.68 years. The study population consisted of 177 right-handed, healthy participants aged 21–89 years. Participants underwent cognitive assessments and MRI scans at three time points (Wave 1 = baseline; Wave 2 = approximately 4 years after Wave 1; Wave 3 = approximately 8 years after Wave 1). Three distinct Differential Tractography Analyses (DTA) were performed using the “Wave – previous Wave” scheme to evaluate long-term (Wave 3 – Wave 1) and short-term (Wave 2 – Wave 1 and Wave 3 – Wave 2) changes in FA. Correlational tractography with a nonparametric Spearman partial correlation was used for each DTA to visualize WM pathways that shown longitudinal change in FA, and the effects of covariates (including age and sex) were controlled for using a multiple regression model. For each analysis, a T-score threshold of 3.5 was applied in the fiber tracking algorithm, and a p-value corrected for False Discovery Rate (p-FDR) threshold of 0.001 was used to select tracks. FA decreased significantly over time in all three DTA (p-FDR < 0.001), showing a distinct left-dominant pattern characterized by initial involvement of the left hemisphere (mainly the temporal lobe) and later spreading to the entire brain. The results of this study suggest a “left-to-whole” pattern of WM degeneration during physiological aging, which may partially explain the loss of brain lateralization observed in aging.</p>","PeriodicalId":9192,"journal":{"name":"Brain Imaging and Behavior","volume":"20 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147472461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laura Fenton, Gali H Weissberger, Lauren E Salminen, Anya Samek, Daisy T Noriega-Makarskyy, Cassidy P Molinare, Jordan Williams, Emma Oyen, Paige Kim, Jenna Axelrod, Laura Mosqueda, Hussein Yassine, S Duke Han
{"title":"Brain macrostructure correlates of financial altruism in older adults without dementia.","authors":"Laura Fenton, Gali H Weissberger, Lauren E Salminen, Anya Samek, Daisy T Noriega-Makarskyy, Cassidy P Molinare, Jordan Williams, Emma Oyen, Paige Kim, Jenna Axelrod, Laura Mosqueda, Hussein Yassine, S Duke Han","doi":"10.1007/s11682-026-01133-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11682-026-01133-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Greater financial altruism (i.e., the tendency to give money to an anonymous individual) has been previously associated with poorer performance on neuropsychological tests sensitive to cognitive changes occurring in early Alzheimer’s disease (AD). While these findings provide initial support for the idea that financial altruism may be associated with early AD-related brain changes, no study has used MRI to investigate structural brain correlates of financial altruism in older adults. To address this gap in the literature, the current study investigated associations between brain macrostructure and financial altruism in 101 older adults free from dementia (mean age = 68.45±7.15, mean education = 16.61±2.14, 76% female, 73% White) using a high-field 7 Tesla MRI. Results revealed no significant associations between financial altruism and a priori regions of interest (entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and temporoparietal junction) in the entire sample. However, there was a significant interaction between financial altruism and income, whereby greater financial altruism was associated with lower hippocampal volume in those with a reported income below $100,000. Collectively these results suggest that financial altruism in the context of lower income, but not financial altruism in general, may reflect suboptimal brain aging, and perhaps greater risk of conversion to AD.</p>","PeriodicalId":9192,"journal":{"name":"Brain Imaging and Behavior","volume":"20 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12996392/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147472548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bluyé DeMessie, Molly F Charney, Roman Fleysher, Kenny Q Ye, Mimi Kim, Walter F Stewart, Molly E Zimmerman, Thomas W Kaminski, Richard B Lipton, Michael L Lipton
{"title":"Soccer heading and white matter microstructural changes: a two-year longitudinal cohort study.","authors":"Bluyé DeMessie, Molly F Charney, Roman Fleysher, Kenny Q Ye, Mimi Kim, Walter F Stewart, Molly E Zimmerman, Thomas W Kaminski, Richard B Lipton, Michael L Lipton","doi":"10.1007/s11682-026-01134-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11682-026-01134-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Soccer is played by over 265 million people worldwide, with repetitive head impacts from ball heading being common practice. However, the long-term neurological effects of such impacts on amateur players remain poorly understood. This two-year longitudinal cohort study examined whether cumulative soccer ball heading affects white matter microstructure and cognitive performance in adult amateur players from the New York City metropolitan area.The study followed 159 amateur soccer players (24.3% female, ages 18–53) who completed diffusion MRI scans and cognitive assessments at baseline and two-year follow-up. Heading exposure was quantified using the validated HeadCount-12 m questionnaire administered annually. Changes in DTI and NODDI parameters were analyzed across 10 white matter regions, alongside cognitive performance across six domains using the CogState battery.Participants were categorized by two-year heading exposure: low (n = 80, median 304 headers), medium (n = 39, median 808 headers), and high (n = 40, median 2,073 headers). After FDR correction across 70 tests (7 diffusion metrics × 10 white matter ROIs), one association exceeded the correction threshold. In the right middle fronto-orbital white matter, low-exposure players showed significant ODI decrease (mean change = -0.020, P < .001), whereas high-exposure players showed no significant change (mean change = -0.006, P = .16), yielding a significant group difference in covariate-adjusted analyses (β = 0.0132, 95% CI [0.005, 0.0214]; Cohen d = 0.58; P = .002). While no cognitive performance measures showed significant associations with heading after multiple comparisons correction, increased right middle fronto-orbital white matter orientation dispersion index correlated with declining working memory performance (β = -1.35; 95% CI [-2.45, -0.24]; P = .018). These findings provide the first longitudinal evidence linking soccer heading exposure to white matter microstructural changes, highlighting the need for continued assessment of long-term neurological consequences in young adult players.</p>","PeriodicalId":9192,"journal":{"name":"Brain Imaging and Behavior","volume":"20 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13321368/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147472516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chad D Jensen, Hannah M McDaniel, Monica C Martinez, Christopher M Jones, C Brock Kirwan
{"title":"Executive functioning-related neural processes in emerging adults with type 1 diabetes.","authors":"Chad D Jensen, Hannah M McDaniel, Monica C Martinez, Christopher M Jones, C Brock Kirwan","doi":"10.1007/s11682-026-01131-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11682-026-01131-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Research suggests that emerging adults with type 1 diabetes demonstrate many neural differences from their peers, including poorer executive functioning. However, limited research has examined whether these differences are associated with alterations in neural activation and whether brain processes vary depending on illness management (i.e., hemoglobin A1c). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined whether emerging adults with type 1 diabetes showed differences in in executive functioning-related neural activation compared to age-matched peers without type 1 diabetes. We found that, although participants with type 1 diabetes demonstrated similar behavioral inhibition performance to their peers, they showed comparatively greater activation in several interconnected executive functioning-related brain regions, including the left frontal, temporal, and insular regions. We did not find an association between hemoglobin HbA1c and executive function-related neural activation. These findings suggests that individuals with type 1 diabetes likely exert greater neural “effort” in executive functioning-related brain regions to achieve similar levels of inhibitory control when compared to peers without type 1 diabetes.</p>","PeriodicalId":9192,"journal":{"name":"Brain Imaging and Behavior","volume":"20 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147466838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effect of addiction on brain glucose metabolism assessed by PET/CT molecular imaging: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Qariemah Azahar, Syahir Mansor","doi":"10.1007/s11682-026-01132-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11682-026-01132-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Brain glucose metabolism, as measured by 18F-FDG PET/CT, reflects regional brain function and activity. Substance addiction has been shown to disrupt this metabolic activity, even though the affected brain regions and extent of disruption vary by substance and stage of addiction. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of substance use and dependence on cerebral glucose metabolism rate (CMRglc) measured by 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging, regardless of study design or subject conditions. A systematic search was conducted following PRISMA guidelines to identify eligible human studies that used 18F-FDG PET in individuals with substance dependence. Meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model, reporting Hedges’ g with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Out of 385 records, ten studies met the inclusion criteria, covering substances such as nicotine, morphine, ethanol, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana, and seven were eligible for meta-analysis. Addiction was consistently associated with hypometabolism in the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and thalamus, which are areas involved in reward, cognition and emotion regulation. Meta-analysis revealed a significant reduction in CMRglc overall (g = 0.92; 95% CI: − 1.27 to -0.57). Heterogeneity was moderate to high (I2 = 70.43%, p = 0.002). Addiction leads to glucose hypometabolism in brain regions across different stages, whether during active use, withdrawal, or prolonged abstinence, regardless of the substance involved. 18F-FDG PET serves as a valuable molecular imaging tool to detect these brain changes and has great potential for monitoring recovery progress, understanding the withdrawal process, and evaluating treatment response.</p>","PeriodicalId":9192,"journal":{"name":"Brain Imaging and Behavior","volume":"20 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147455897","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ali Jahanshahi, Soheil Mohammadi, Mohammad Amin Salehi, Mahsa Dolatshahi, Sina Mirakhori, Negin Frounchi, Seyed Sina Zakavi, Hamid Harandi, Hosein Ghasempour, Cyrus A Raji
{"title":"Brain microstructural alterations in COVID-19: a systematic review of diffusion weighted imaging studies.","authors":"Ali Jahanshahi, Soheil Mohammadi, Mohammad Amin Salehi, Mahsa Dolatshahi, Sina Mirakhori, Negin Frounchi, Seyed Sina Zakavi, Hamid Harandi, Hosein Ghasempour, Cyrus A Raji","doi":"10.1007/s11682-026-01084-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11682-026-01084-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>INTRODUCTION: Following its emergence in Wuhan, COVID-19 has been associated with neurological sequalae, pathophysiological basis of which has been under investigation from the early reports. Herein, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview on white matter microstructural findings in COVID-19 patents. METHODS: We performed a systematic literature search on PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases on February 9th, 2025, using the combination of keywords related to COVID-19, DTI, and NODDI. Study selection and data extraction was performed to provide a qualitative synthesis of the data. RESULTS: Mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were the most reported diffusion parameters. Significant alterations in diffusion parameters of longitudinal fasciculi, thalamic radiations, corpus callosum (CC), fronto-occipital fasciculus (FOF), cortico-spinal tract (CST) and uncinate fasciculi (UF) were repeatedly reported among in the studies, of which the results on changes in CR and LF were almost consistent. CONCLUSION: The observed changes in white matter microstructural integrity are associated with the psychiatric and cognitive symptoms in post-COVID-19 phase. This observation warrants long-term follow-up of COVID-19 patients for the potential neurological sequalae of this disease. </p>","PeriodicalId":9192,"journal":{"name":"Brain Imaging and Behavior","volume":"20 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12988982/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147455942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Daifeng Dong, Chuting Li, Chang Cheng, Xiaoqiang Sun, Ge Xiong, Shuqiao Yao, Xiaocui Zhang, Xiang Wang
{"title":"Association of neural responses to acute psychosocial stress with relapse in depression.","authors":"Daifeng Dong, Chuting Li, Chang Cheng, Xiaoqiang Sun, Ge Xiong, Shuqiao Yao, Xiaocui Zhang, Xiang Wang","doi":"10.1007/s11682-026-01074-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11682-026-01074-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neural stress responses play a critical role in the relapse of major depressive disorder (MDD); moreover, emerging findings suggest that the neural stress responses in both healthy adults and MDD patients are sex-dependent. However, whether the neural stress responses are related to future MDD relapse and whether relapse-related neural stress responses are sex-dependent remains unclear. Seventy-four first-episode unmedicated MDD patients completed the Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST) during functional magnetic resonance imaging at baseline. Two years after the initial recruitment, the relapse status of MDD patients was evaluated. Based on prior findings, the medial orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were selected as regions of interest; the overall brain activation and activation changes with stress exposure were extracted for each region. Our study included 31 MDD patients (15 male/16 female) with relapse and 43 MDD patients without relapse (17 male/26 female). Independent sample t-tests revealed that the relapse MDD group exhibited a higher increase in NAc activation with stress exposure (female and whole sample) and dlPFC activation (male sample) during MIST compared to the non-relapse MDD group. Logistic regression analyses revealed that the dlPFC activation positively predicted the future relapse in the male MDD group but not the female MDD group. Findings highlight that MDD relapse-related neural stress responses are sex-dependent, particularly for the potentiated stress-induced dlPFC activation for males and increased NAc activation with stress exposure for females.</p>","PeriodicalId":9192,"journal":{"name":"Brain Imaging and Behavior","volume":"20 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147442495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"APOE ε4 carriage is associated with olfactory-hippocampal tract functional connectivity.","authors":"Toshikazu Ikuta, Taylor Bither","doi":"10.1007/s11682-026-01109-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11682-026-01109-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Olfactory dysfunction often emerges before cognitive symptoms and may signal early vulnerability to neurodegenerative processes. This study examined whether genetic risk, specifically the presence of the epsilon 4 allele in apolipoprotein E, is associated with altered functional connectivity between the hippocampus and olfactory regions. Resting-state functional imaging data from 126 participants (mean age = 71.8 years, SD = 6.9; 67 females) across a range of clinical stages were analyzed. Functional connectivity was computed between the hippocampus and four olfactory-related regions: anterior piriform cortex, posterior piriform cortex, olfactory bulb, and olfactory tract. Multiple regression models assessed whether genetic risk, age, sex, and clinical diagnosis predicted connectivity strength. Genetic risk was significantly associated with increased connectivity between the hippocampus and the olfactory tract (model R² = 0.12). A nominal APOE ε4 effect was also observed in the olfactory bulb, although the overall model did not reach significance, while no significant effects were observed in the piriform cortex regions. Clinical diagnosis was not a significant predictor of connectivity in any region. These results suggest that genetic risk is linked to early functional reorganization in specific olfactory-hippocampal pathways, particularly the olfactory tract, independent of clinical progression. The olfactory-hippocampal network may serve as a sensitive target for detecting early brain changes associated with neurodegenerative risk.</p>","PeriodicalId":9192,"journal":{"name":"Brain Imaging and Behavior","volume":"20 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12982280/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147442529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The correlation between olfactory bulb volume and T&T odor threshold: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Zhuoying Luo, Yuqin Zhong, Canfeng Zhao, Chong Ouyang, Jiaping Ren, Hua Peng","doi":"10.1007/s11682-026-01118-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11682-026-01118-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This meta-analysis aims to quantitatively assess the correlation between olfactory bulb (OB) volume measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the T&T olfactometer identification threshold, with subgroup analyses conducted in patients with neurodegenerative disorders and healthy individuals. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, China Biology Medicine Disc (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, and VIP databases for relevant studies. The procedure was under the guidance of the Preferred Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Reporting Items (PRISMA) checklist. English or Chinese cross-sectional studies concerned with OB volume and olfactory function published before January 31, 2025, were searched in the data sources mentioned above. After study selection, data extraction, and the assessment of study quality, this meta-analysis was performed independently performed by two reviewers. Correlation coefficients were pooled using Fisher’s z transformation. Random- or fixed-effects models were applied according to heterogeneity. Subgroup analyses were conducted for neurodegenerative disorder patients and healthy controls. Fifteen studies concerning 1289 subjects were qualified for the study, including 824 patients who suffered from olfactory deficiency and 465 healthy individuals. Fourteen studies were of high quality, and one study was of medium quality. An overall correlation between OB volume and T&T olfactory test score (r=-0.64, P= 0.01) was detected. Further subgroup analysis showed significant correlations among cognitive syndrome patients (mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD)) (r=-0.84,P=0.82), Parkinson’s disease patients (PD) (r=-0.70,P=0.01), healthy subjects (r=-0.61,P=0.97). According to meta-regression analysis, age was not a source of heterogeneity. The result supported a significant correlation between OB volume and T&T odor identification threshold. OB volume measurement may be a potential alternative for the T&T odor identification test, especially in neurodegenerative individuals.</p>","PeriodicalId":9192,"journal":{"name":"Brain Imaging and Behavior","volume":"20 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147442550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Adrian R Corfitsen, Mikkel K E Nygaard, Simon F Eskildsen, Ulrik Dalgas, Martin Langeskov-Christensen
{"title":"Is physical fitness associated with brain structure and function in Parkinson's disease?","authors":"Adrian R Corfitsen, Mikkel K E Nygaard, Simon F Eskildsen, Ulrik Dalgas, Martin Langeskov-Christensen","doi":"10.1007/s11682-026-01098-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11682-026-01098-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We investigated associations between physical fitness (cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max), peak muscle power (Pmax)) and brain structure (magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures) and function (cognition) in people with Parkinson’s disease (pwPD). Simple and multiple linear regression analyses were performed using quantitative susceptibility mapping, diffusion imaging, and volumetric MRI data from 105 pwPD. Simple regression analyses showed significant positive associations between VO2max/Pmax and whole-brain volume (r2 = 0.11/0.12), the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) (r2 = 0.18/0.21), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) (r2 = 0.12/0.12) as well as volume of white and gray matter structures (total white/gray matter, putamen, caudate, pallidus, thalamus). When adjusted for age and sex, associations between VO2max and cognition (SDMT, MoCA) and between Pmax and total white matter volume, pallidus volume, and cognition (SDMT) remained significant. Physical fitness was weakly to moderately associated with cognitive function and some MRI markers of neurodegeneration in pwPD. These exploratory findings further support the potential neuroprotective effect of exercise in pwPD and may aid in selecting outcomes in future trials evaluating the neuroprotective effects of exercise.</p>","PeriodicalId":9192,"journal":{"name":"Brain Imaging and Behavior","volume":"20 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12979291/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147430053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}