EXCORE – Exercise for Enhancing Cognition in Adult Survivors of Malnutrition

Key Objectives

• Assess whether six months of aerobic exercise improves cognition and emotion regulation in adults who experienced severe malnutrition in childhood.

• Investigate how exercise-induced myokines, particularly brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), contributes to cognitive improvements.

• Explore changes in muscle health, insulin sensitivity, and brain–body connections through biopsies and physiological assessments.

  
  

Key Findings & Scientific Arguments

• Malnutrition in early life impairs brain development, particularly executive function—resulting in long-term challenges with attention, decision-making, and emotion regulation.

• Aerobic exercise is known to enhance brain function through structural and biochemical changes, particularly in brain regions tied to cognition.

• Preliminary studies by SODECO have already shown that exercise improves cognition and memory in affected adults, while also enhancing muscle health and insulin sensitivity.

• Cognitive deficits may be mediated by disrupted muscle–brain signalling, and improved through increased production of BDNF and other myokines triggered by sustained exercise.

  
  

Study Design at a Glance

Sample: 

• 144 adults aged 30–60 who experienced severe malnutrition in childhood

• 72 participants in the exercise group

• 72 participants in a control group (usual care + lifestyle advice)

  
  

Intervention: 

6-month aerobic exercise program (150 minutes per week) customized and monitored at SODECO’s Clinical Centre.

Assessments:

• Cognitive function

• Physical fitness (VO2Max)

• Muscle biopsies (insulin sensitivity and mitochondrial function)

• Blood biomarkers (insulin-glucose dynamics, myokines)