An interventional study of Acute Aerobic exercise in Aging and Exercise Impacts on Glymphatic Function, sponsored by University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 25 Years to 75 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-05.
Sponsored by University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
This is a prospective, interventional, non-blinded, single center research project that will recruit cognitively unimpaired subjects in the 25-55 year old and 55-75 year old range. This study will use acute aerobic exercise as a natural intervention model to increase cardiac activity which may further drive the glymphatic function. There will be no randomization, and all enrolled subjects will participate in the exercise session.
Hypotheses: revealed by the multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approach, glymphatic dysfunction increases with age and is associated with preclinical Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathology in cognitively unimpaired individuals. Using acute aerobic exercise as a human model, the enhancement of cerebrospinal fluid-interstitial fluid (CSF-ISF) exchange caused by elevated cardiac activity and paravascular cerebrospinal fluid (pCSF) dynamics can be validated.
The purpose of this research study is to understand how the human brain removes amyloid beta (Aβ) protein which can lead to Alzheimer's disease (AD), using non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Participants will first go through screening including health survey and blood draw. Depending on their age, enrolled participants will take neuropsychological assessment, sleep and quality-of-life survey, exercise testing, MRI and positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Depending on individual age, the study may include up to three separate visits, a blood draw, an MRI visits and a PET scan visit. The greatest risks of this study include the possibility of injury during the exercise testing, MRI and PET scans, and loss of confidentiality.
9,798 studies on the registry are indexed under Motor Activity; 1,910 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 240 is above the median of 60 across 8,388 interventional studies indexed under Motor Activity.
Browse Motor Activity studies →University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 1,010 studies on the registry; 199 are open to participants now.
Of its 139 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 105 (76%) have results posted.
Compared within Motor Activity, the registry's first condition term, which may not be this study's main condition. Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily. How we classify →
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Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
MMSE and MoCA
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Autoimmune disease
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
This group will include all enrolled participants from all age groups, will receive MRI scans for glymphatic function and participate in acute aerobic exercise (intervention) between MRI sessions. They may / may not undergo PET scans.
Procedure: Acute Aerobic exercise
During the MRI session, subject will perform aerobic exercise on a MR-compatible ergometer and will be guided to reach certain heart rate level depending on subject's age. Their vital signs will be closely monitored by the research team to ensure safety.
Exercise-induced changes in heart rate (HR)
During exercise, HR will be continuously monitored using photoplethysmography (ppg) by a device attached to a finger of the subjects.
Time frame: Baseline (pre-exercise), immediately post-exercise
Exercise-induced changes in cardiac output (CO)
During exercise, CO will be calculated based on HR and real time blood pressure (BP) acquired on the index finger using an MRI-compatible device.
Time frame: Baseline (pre-exercise), immediately post-exercise
Exercise-induced changes in MRI measurements of pCSF dynamics
pCSF will be assessed using MRI in the brain.
Time frame: Baseline (pre-exercise), immediately post-exercise
Exercise-induced changes in MRI measurements of CSF-ISF exchange
CSF-ISF exchange will be assessed using MRI in the brain.
Time frame: Baseline (pre-exercise), immediately post-exercise
No study locations are listed for this record.
Plan to share: Yes — Individual participant data that underlie the results reported in publication, after deidentification (text, tables, figures, and appendices).
Supporting information: Study protocol, Statistical analysis plan
Time frame: Between the time range beginning 3 months and ending 5 years following publication.
Access criteria: Researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal. Proposals should be directed to Jiaen.Liu@UTSouthwestern.edu. To gain access, data requestors will need to sign a data access agreement. Data are available for 5 years at NIH's data repository.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Start is estimated for Dec 2026; primary completion for Dec 2029, 36 months later.
Of 5,147 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Motor Activity, half reached primary completion within 17 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 7 and three quarters within 36. This study's planned 36 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 5,207 studies reached it within 17 months; a quarter within 7 and three quarters within 36.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Oct 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center →