Kirk I. Erickson, PhD, on the Connection Between Fitness and Cognition

Obesity is a top-priority public health concern. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that more than 1.9 billion adults worldwide were overweight in 2016, of whom more than 650 million were obese. With this widespread health burden, it is important to better understand how to ameliorate the comorbid health risks associated with obesity, such as diabetes mellitus and cognitive issues.

To find out more about the research on these important areas, Cardiology Consultant reached out to Kirk I. Erickson, PhD, who is professor and principal investigator of the Brain Aging and Cognitive Health Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

CARDIO CON: In your session, you spoke about fitness, insulin sensitivity, cognition, and healthy aging. Can you tell us more about that and how physical activity affects cognition?

KE: Physical activity positively influences cognition across the lifespan and in numerous conditions. Generally speaking, the effects are larger and more consistent in cognitive processes that are more challenging and “executive” in nature—that is, requiring greater working memory demands, switching between tasks, and selectively attending to certain tasks. We still are learning the mechanisms and pathways involved in how physical activity influences cognition, and there are likely a plethora of different pathways involved, but changes to insulin pathways might be one of them.

CARDIO CON: What are some potential new targets for therapeutic intervention for obesity or cardiometabolic syndrome?

KE: In terms of brain health, we might want to focus on enhancing cognitive function in conjunction with other behaviors controlled by the brain, including sleep, movement, and mood. Using dietary and physical activity behaviors could target certain brain areas that regulate these processes, which in turn would influence the maintenance and adherence to lifestyle changes.

CARDIO CON: In your opinion, are current physical activity guidelines doing enough to reduce the burden of obesity in the United States? What do you think should be done?

KE: I think we are all doing what we can. It is always difficult to translate science into policies. Generally speaking, scientists are hesitant about speaking too confidently about a result until it is replicated (sometimes numerous times) or well established in the literature with a strong scientific basis before translating the therapies, interventions, and knowledge into practice. There are good reasons for this cautiousness, but it does mean that the translation is often behind what we think is happening from the science. Although this can sometimes frustrate policymakers and the public, I doubt that a less-cautious approach for translating findings to policy would do science or the public any good.