Self-Reported Omega-3 Supplement Use Moderates the Association between Age and Exercising Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity in Older Adults

Abstract

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) decreases across the lifespan, and chronic conditions such as dementia and stroke accelerate this decline. Impaired CBF results in reduced delivery of oxygen and nutrients, which can damage the brain over time. Thus, there is a need to identify lifestyle interventions, including diet and exercise, to maintain CBF with aging and in the presence of chronic disease. In the present study, we used transcranial Doppler ultrasound to record middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv), a surrogate measure of CBF, during moderate-intensity exercise in sedentary, cognitively normal older adults (n = 90). A multiple linear regression model (F(4, 85) = 3.21, p = 0.02) showed that self-reported omega-3 supplement use significantly moderated the association between age and mean exercising MCAv in these individuals (p = 0.01). Older age was associated with lower exercising MCAv in the group not taking omega-3 supplements, while exercising MCAv showed no decline with increasing age in the group who reported omega-3 supplement use. These findings suggest omega-3 supplementation may have an important role in the preservation of CBF with aging.

Keywords: cerebral blood flow; exercise; middle cerebral artery; omega-3; supplements; vascular.

Figure 1

Middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv; centimeters per second) during moderate-intensity exercise is shown as a function of age (years) for participants who reported omega-3 supplement use or no omega-3 supplement use. For the group not taking omega-3 supplements, increasing age was associated with a lower exercising MCAv, a surrogate measure of cerebral blood flow (CBF). In contrast, exercising MCAv was stable with increasing age in the group who reported taking omega-3 supplements.