Table 2.
Summary of region of interest (ROI) based cortical thickness analysis for participants in the Group and Combined setting. Table reports absolute mean and mean centered cortical thickness in mm as well as standard deviations for key ROIs, hypothesized a priori to show training effects, from the AAL (Automated Anatomical Labeling) atlas at Baseline, Pre (Pre-training), Post (Post-training) and Follow-up. * - signifies ROIs for which thickness estimates were statistically significantly different from thickness estimates at Pre (immediately prior to starting exercise training), ** - signifies ROIs that remained significant after correction for multiple comparisons. % Difference from Pre – stands for percent difference of cortical thickness values obtained based on structural MRI data collected immediately before starting the exercise program (Pre) from cortical thickness measured based on scans acquired 3 months prior to starting the exercise program (Baseline), immediately after completion of exercise program (Post) and three months after completion of exercise program (Follow-up), respectively (see Fig. 1 for experimental timeline and associated terminology).
| Absolute thickness (mm) ± sd |
Mean centered thickness (mm) ± sd |
% Difference from Pre |
p-Values |
|||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROI | Baseline | Pre | Post | Follow-up | Baseline | Pre | Post | Follow-up | Baseline | Post | Follow-up | Baseline | Post | Follow-up | ||
| Group setting | ||||||||||||||||
| L parahippocampal | 3.81 ± 0.25 | 3.72 ± 0.34 | 3.70 ± 0.37 | 3.61 ± 0.31 | 0.07 ± 0.16 | 0.00 ± 0.11 | −0.02 ± 0.15 | −0.02 ± 0.12 | 1.67 | −0.64 | −0.72 | 0.34 | 0.63 | 0.66 | ||
| L postcentral | 2.57 ± 0.23 | 2.71 ± 0.21 | 2.75 ± 0.25 | 2.87 ± 0.22 | 0.00 ± 0.08 | −0.02 ± 0.07 | 0.01 ± 0.09 | 0.02 ± 0.07 | 0.68 | 1.32 | 1.45 | 0.64 | 0.24 | 0.30 | ||
| L precentral | 3.04 ± 0.25 | 3.13 ± 0.22 | 3.17 ± 0.20 | 3.25 ± 0.19 | 0.01 ± 0.06 | −0.03 ± 0.08 | 0.02 ± 0.09 | 0.01 ± 0.09 | 1.04 | 1.47 | 1.24 | 0.44 | 0.15 | 0.33 | ||
| R parahippocampal | 3.81 ± 0.26 | 3.70 ± 0.36 | 3.71 ± 0.30 | 3.69 ± 0.24 | 0.06 ± 0.07 | −0.03 ± 0.10 | −0.02 ± 0.10 | 0.05 ± 0.18 | 2.31 | 0.30 | 2.13 | 0.13 | 0.79 | 0.14 | ||
| R postcentral | 2.60 ± 0.21 | 2.69 ± 0.21 | 2.76 ± 0.22 | 2.80 ± 0.21 | 0.01 ± 0.07 | −0.03 ± 0.07 | 0.03 ± 0.08 | 0.00 ± 0.09 | 1.55 | 2.38 | 1.35 | 0.26 | 0.02 | * | 0.30 | |
| R precentral | 2.98 ± 0.16 | 3.04 ± 0.18 | 3.09 ± 0.19 | 3.11 ± 0.16 | 0.02 ± 0.03 | −0.03 ± 0.05 | 0.02 ± 0.05 | −0.01 ± 0.08 | 1.73 | 1.82 | 0.79 | 0.05 | * | 0.01 | ** | 0.33 |
| Combined setting | ||||||||||||||||
| L parahippocampal | 3.87 ± 0.15 | 3.71 ± 0.43 | 3.79 ± 0.41 | 3.69 ± 0.39 | 0.03 ± 0.15 | −0.02 ± 0.13 | 0.05 ± 0.07 | −0.07 ± 0.07 | 1.43 | 1.93 | −1.36 | 0.36 | 0.11 | 0.35 | ||
| L postcentral | 2.86 ± 0.17 | 2.68 ± 0.30 | 2.65 ± 0.27 | 2.50 ± 0.27 | −0.01 ± 0.04 | 0.01 ± 0.05 | −0.02 ± 0.07 | 0.02 ± 0.06 | −0.75 | −1.14 | 0.18 | 0.51 | 0.20 | 0.87 | ||
| L precentral | 3.17 ± 0.13 | 3.09 ± 0.24 | 3.02 ± 0.22 | 3.00 ± 0.27 | 0.02 ± 0.08 | 0.02 ± 0.07 | −0.04 ± 0.11 | 0.03 ± 0.09 | −0.13 | −2.16 | 0.11 | 0.94 | 0.08 | 0.94 | ||
| R parahippocampal | 3.70 ± 0.23 | 3.76 ± 0.37 | 3.80 ± 0.35 | 3.92 ± 0.42 | 0.00 ± 0.06 | −0.04 ± 0.14 | 0.00 ± 0.10 | 0.07 ± 0.22 | 1.03 | 1.10 | 2.78 | 0.60 | 0.47 | 0.14 | ||
| R postcentral | 2.81 ± 0.16 | 2.73 ± 0.26 | 2.65 ± 0.17 | 2.58 ± 0.25 | −0.01 ± 0.06 | 0.05 ± 0.10 | −0.04 ± 0.11 | 0.00 ± 0.09 | −2.14 | −3.20 | −1.77 | 0.28 | 0.04 | * | 0.34 | |
| R precentral | 3.12 ± 0.18 | 3.03 ± 0.25 | 2.96 ± 0.22 | 2.91 ± 0.30 | 0.01 ± 0.07 | 0.03 ± 0.07 | −0.04 ± 0.10 | 0.02 ± 0.11 | −0.52 | −2.32 | −0.20 | 0.74 | 0.06 | 0.89 | ||