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Physical activity is beneficial for mental health in older adults. It is effective as a treatment for late-life psychiatric disorders and as a prevention against clinical depression and anxiety. However, questions remain around the frequency, intensity, duration, and type of physical activity that may be most beneficial for mental health in aging, and around the moderating factors—including genetic factors— that may explain variability in physical activity’s effects on mental health in older people. Possible moderators of physical activity’s effects on late-life mental health include brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism and the apolipoprotein (APOE) ε4 allele, genetic variants that can elevate risk for depression and cognitive decline.

In a secondary analysis of a three-arm randomized controlled trial, investigators including Swathi Gujral, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), and Dana Rofey, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Psychology and Clinical and Translational Science), from the University of Pittsburgh, compared the effects of six months of high-intensity aerobic training vs. moderate-intensity aerobic training on mental health symptoms in a cohort of cognitively unimpaired older adults and in a no-contact comparison group. They additionally examined the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and APOE ε4 carrier status as genetic moderators of exercise effects on mental health symptoms.

In a paper published in the International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, the scientists reported that the exercise intervention did not influence mental health symptoms, and that the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism did not moderate intervention effects on mental health symptoms. However, APOE ε4 carriers—but not non-carriers—in the high-intensity aerobic training group showed a decline in perceived stress over six months.

“These results highlight that exercise training parameters, such as intensity, are important to consider when interpreting mixed results from various exercise trials and individual factors, such as genetic vulnerabilities, likely further contribute to heterogeneity in responsiveness to exercise,” said Dr. Gujral, the study’s corresponding author.

Dose-response effects of exercise on mental health in community-dwelling older adults: Exploration of genetic moderators
Gujral S, Burns M, Erickson KI, Rofey D, Peiffer JJ, Laws SM, Brown B.
International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, Volume 24, Issue 1, 2024, 100443, ISSN 1697-2600, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2024.100443.