Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with improved cognitive function in older adults.
Researchers found that individuals with better cardiorespiratory fitness scored higher across five cognitive health domains.
Cardiorespiratory fitness among older adults is associated with better outcomes related to cognitive ability, including memory and executive functioning.
“In addition, higher fitness levels were linked to better thinking and memory skills even among older adults at higher risk for cognitive decline,” she noted.
It is especially important for older adults to maintain physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness while minimizing the risk of injury.
Improved cognitive function in older adults is linked to cardiorespiratory fitness.
Higher scores in five domains of cognitive health were found for those with greater cardiorespiratory fitness.
The results show how lifestyle choices, like exercise, can dramatically lower the risk of dementia.
Better cognitive abilities, such as memory and executive functioning, are linked to older adults who are more cardiorespiratoryly fit.
These advantages also seem to hold true in the face of major risk factors for cognitive decline, including advanced age and having the APOE4 geneTrusted Source, which is a predictor of Alzheimer’s disease, according to recent studies. On December 10, the British Journal of Sports Medicine published the results.
“We discovered that improved cognitive performance across a number of domains was positively correlated with cardiorespiratory fitness, a measure of aerobic capacity that we can alter by regularly participating in aerobic exercise,” first study author Lauren Oberlin, PhD, associate investigator at Advent Health and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, told Healthline.
“Moreover, even among older adults who are more susceptible to cognitive decline, higher levels of fitness were associated with improved thinking and memory abilities,” she said.
The results back up suggestions that people of all ages, including senior citizens, should increase their physical activity levels. reliable source.
648 senior citizens were enlisted by Oberlin and her colleagues for a physical examination and a series of cognitive tests as part of their study.
Participants ranged in age from 65 to 80 years, with women making up the majority (71 percent).
The study excluded participants who did not participate in moderate-to-vigorous exercise for at least three days a week and for less than 20 minutes each day during the previous six months. People with a recent history of cardiovascular events or type 1 diabetes were also excluded, as were those with severe mental health conditions or specific neurological conditions.
In order to evaluate their cardiorespiratory fitness, enrolled participants performed a VO2 max test on a treadmill. The test calculates the maximum oxygen consumption rate that a person’s body is capable of during maximally intense exercise. The degree of cardiorespiratory fitness increases with VO2 max score.
For both men (30–40 ml/kg/min) and women (25–35 ml/kg/min), a good VO2 max score is higher than the average VO2 max of 21–68 ml/kg/min that the participants had.
Participants took cognitive tests covering five different areas of brain function after the VO2 max test.
Working memory: Short-term memory, such as the ability to recall a phone number while making a call.
Memory that is episodic: The capacity to remember particular details and occurrences.
Processing speed: How quickly new information can be processed by the brain.
The domain linked to decision-making and planning is executive function/attention control.
Visuospatial function: The capacity to recognize and understand spatial relationships, which is useful for tasks like driving and solving puzzles.
Regardless of age or APOE4 gene presence, improved performance in all five of these domains was linked to higher cardiorespiratory fitness, as measured by the VO2 test.
The director of the Middle Tennessee Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program and geriatric medicine professor at Vanderbilt University, James Powers, MD, told Healthline, “This is a ray of hope.”. Powers had nothing to do with the study.
We are discovering a correlation between cardiovascular fitness, exercise, and cognitive status, which is a very real effect. This research is crucial to our efforts to inform the public and support our patients in making lifelong lifestyle decisions, Powers stated.
He said, “What we’re learning from studies like this, and there are others, is that we can actually take some personal effort that can have a meaningful impact in our lives in terms of forestalling or preventing a risk of dementia.”.
Furthermore, women and participants on beta-blockers showed a stronger correlation. There is no established link between using those medications and the cognitive advantages, though, as this is an observational study.
“Beta-blockers can affect a person’s capacity to meet fitness-related benchmarks,” Oberlin stated.
It’s possible that maintaining greater fitness levels in the context of beta-blocker-treated chronic conditions could be crucial for maintaining executive functioning. However, we are only able to speculate about the nature of these relationships because this is a cross-sectional study,” she continued.
The CDC suggests 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week, which is equivalent to 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
These recommendations cover things like walking and gardening that you might not consider “exercise.”.
Maintaining physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness while lowering the risk of injury is particularly crucial for older adults.
Activities like these could be part of an exercise program for senior citizens.
Exercise for flexibility and balance.
recurring strolls.
water aerobics or swimming.
strength training.
Zumba-style aerobic classes.
Ultimately, maintaining physical fitness involves more than just your physical health; it also involves your mental health.
According to Lydia Bazzano, MD, PhD, director of Tulane University’s Tulane Center for Lifespan Epidemiology Research, “every extra step you take is an investment in your brain health,” she told Healthline. Bazzano had nothing to do with the study.
Even if you’re only parking further away and making a slight increase in your walking distance to your destination. According to her, “your brain can benefit from any additional physical activity you can get.”.
