Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
203,234 studies31 sourcesUpdated 12 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0PLOS One

Retinal neurovascular and mitochondrial function signatures related to cognition improvement following yoga exercise in older adults

  • Mariam Moarefi1
  • Kylie Martinez2
  • Giovana Rosa Gameiro3
  • Andrew Hoover4
  • Brooke Fitzgerald5
  • Collin Rich6
  • Joseph Signorile7
  • Natalie C. Ebner8
  • Jianhua Wang
  • Hong Jiang
8 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, United States of America
  2. 2Department of Kinesiology and Sport Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, United States of America
  3. 3Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Federal University of Sao Paulo – EPM/UNIFESP, Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  4. 4Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
  5. 5OcuSciences, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
  6. 6Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
  7. 7Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
  8. 8Department of Neurology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, United States of America
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the associations between retinal neurovascular and mitochondrial function signatures and cognitive performances following a 24-week yoga intervention in healthy older adults. Methods: Thirty healthy older adults (mean age 72 ± 6 years; 25 females) participated in three 60-minute sessions per week of either YogaCue or Hatha yoga over 24 weeks. Retinal structure and vessel density were measured using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), while retinal blood flow (RBF) was assessed using Retinal Function Imager (RFI). Mitochondrial function was evaluated via macular flavoprotein fluorescence (FPF) using the OcuMet Beacon. Cognitive performance was assessed at baseline and follow-up using the NIH Toolbox, Trail Making Tests (TMT-A/B), and the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (HVLT). Results: Several nominally significant correlations were observed between changes in cognitive performance and changes in retinal measures. These included associations between changes in Flanker Test performance and both RBF (ρ = 0.49, p = 0.007) and retinal capillary function (ρ = 0.42, p = 0.03); between changes in Total Recall and retinal tissue perfusion (ρ = 0.39, p = 0.04) and capillary function (ρ = 0.41, p = 0.04); and between changes in List Sorting performance and optic nerve head FPF (ρ = –0.61, p = 0.003). However, none of these associations remained statistically significant after Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate correction. Conclusions: This pilot study identified exploratory associations between changes in retinal neurovascular and mitochondrial function and changes in cognitive performance following a yoga intervention in healthy older adults. Although these findings may suggest potential retinal signatures of cognitive change, they should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating and require validation in larger independent cohorts before definitive conclusions can be drawn.

Related

  1. Regional brain aging signatures predict mortality through neurovascular immune mechanisms
    Pei-Lin Lee, Yi-Long Huang, Chih-Kuang Liang +5
    Cell Reports MedicinePeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textPsychiatry & mental healthPMC
  2. Tongxinluo is associated with neurovascular changes following rt-PA-treated ischemic stroke: associations with inflammation, vascular remodeling, and neural plasticity
    Meiling Xiao, Wei Ding, Xiaoqu Zuo +1
    Frontiers in NeurologyPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textEpidemiology & public healthCrossrefEurope PMCPMC
  3. Serial 4-Dimensional Flow Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Visualizes Incremental Hemodynamic Improvement Following Alcohol Septal Ablation and Subsequent Mavacamten Therapy
    Keitaro Akita, Kenichiro Suwa, Yuichiro Maekawa
    Circulation JournalPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDFull textCardiovascular medicineJ-STAGE
  4. Early Radiographic Improvement of Pain-Induced Sciatic Scoliosis Following Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection in Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Prospective Cohort Study
    Koopong Siribumrungwong, Supanat Vaivoothpinyo, Natthapong Tanakanyarat +4
    International Journal of Spine SurgeryPeer-reviewedLicence not statedFull text1 citedSurgery & anaesthesiaPMC
  5. Incidence and prevention of postprocedural bacteraemia and complications following water vapour therapy of the prostate: a retrospective review and quality improvement initiative at a tertiary care centre
    Elias Tannous, Waleed Hassan, Jeffrey Chapman +6
    Infection prevention in practicePeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDFull textGeneral medicineEurope PMC

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{moarefi2026retinal,
  title = {{Retinal neurovascular and mitochondrial function signatures related to cognition improvement following yoga exercise in older adults}},
  author = {Mariam Moarefi and Kylie Martinez and Giovana Rosa Gameiro and Andrew Hoover and Brooke Fitzgerald and Collin Rich and Joseph Signorile and Natalie C. Ebner and Jianhua Wang and Hong Jiang},
  journal = {PLOS One},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0357464},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357464},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Retinal neurovascular and mitochondrial function signatures related to cognition improvement following yoga exercise in older adults
AU  - Mariam Moarefi
AU  - Kylie Martinez
AU  - Giovana Rosa Gameiro
AU  - Andrew Hoover
AU  - Brooke Fitzgerald
AU  - Collin Rich
AU  - Joseph Signorile
AU  - Natalie C. Ebner
AU  - Jianhua Wang
AU  - Hong Jiang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/01
JO  - PLOS One
DO  - 10.1371/journal.pone.0357464
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357464
AB  - Purpose: To investigate the associations between retinal neurovascular and mitochondrial function signatures and cognitive performances following a 24-week yoga intervention in healthy older adults. Methods: Thirty healthy older adults (mean age 72 ± 6 years; 25 females) participated in three 60-minute sessions per week of either YogaCue or Hatha yoga over 24 weeks. Retinal structure and vessel density were measured using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), while retinal blood flow (RBF) was assessed using Retinal Function Imager (RFI). Mitochondrial function was evaluated via macular flavoprotein fluorescence (FPF) using the OcuMet Beacon. Cognitive performance was assessed at baseline and follow-up using the NIH Toolbox, Trail Making Tests (TMT-A/B), and the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (HVLT). Results: Several nominally significant correlations were observed between changes in cognitive performance and changes in retinal measures. These included associations between changes in Flanker Test performance and both RBF (ρ = 0.49, p = 0.007) and retinal capillary function (ρ = 0.42, p = 0.03); between changes in Total Recall and retinal tissue perfusion (ρ = 0.39, p = 0.04) and capillary function (ρ = 0.41, p = 0.04); and between changes in List Sorting performance and optic nerve head FPF (ρ = –0.61, p = 0.003). However, none of these associations remained statistically significant after Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate correction. Conclusions: This pilot study identified exploratory associations between changes in retinal neurovascular and mitochondrial function and changes in cognitive performance following a yoga intervention in healthy older adults. Although these findings may suggest potential retinal signatures of cognitive change, they should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating and require validation in larger independent cohorts before definitive conclusions can be drawn.
SN  - 1932-6203
ER  -