TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of aerobic fitness on cognitive performance as a function of dual-task demands in older adults
AU - Chaparro, Gioella N.
AU - Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A.L.
AU - Hernandez, Manuel E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
PY - 2019/4
Y1 - 2019/4
N2 - The objective of this study was to examine the effects of aerobic fitness on cognitive performance under varying dual-task demands in older adults. Thirty-four participants (mean ± SD age: 68.6 ± 10.1 years, 24 females) were included in this study. VO 2 max was assessed with the Rockport 1-mile walk test (range = 6.68–45.57). Participants engaged in a cognitive task, the Modified Stroop Color Word Test (MSCWT) on a self-paced treadmill while simultaneously standing or walking. Performance on the Stroop Test was measured as interference of the accuracy score. Participants demonstrated over a 4-fold increase in SI when going from Incongruent to Switching MSCWT blocks across both standing and walking tasks. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction between the MSCWT block and VO 2 max in Stroop interference, such that Switching Stroop interference demonstrated greater changes due to VO 2 max, in comparison to Incongruent SI, even after controlling for age, gender, body mass index, and years of education as covariates in analyses. These results provide evidence of a relationship between aerobic fitness and cognition, suggesting that dual-task interference may provide a sensitive indicator of effects of an aerobic intervention program on the cognitive performance among older adults.
AB - The objective of this study was to examine the effects of aerobic fitness on cognitive performance under varying dual-task demands in older adults. Thirty-four participants (mean ± SD age: 68.6 ± 10.1 years, 24 females) were included in this study. VO 2 max was assessed with the Rockport 1-mile walk test (range = 6.68–45.57). Participants engaged in a cognitive task, the Modified Stroop Color Word Test (MSCWT) on a self-paced treadmill while simultaneously standing or walking. Performance on the Stroop Test was measured as interference of the accuracy score. Participants demonstrated over a 4-fold increase in SI when going from Incongruent to Switching MSCWT blocks across both standing and walking tasks. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction between the MSCWT block and VO 2 max in Stroop interference, such that Switching Stroop interference demonstrated greater changes due to VO 2 max, in comparison to Incongruent SI, even after controlling for age, gender, body mass index, and years of education as covariates in analyses. These results provide evidence of a relationship between aerobic fitness and cognition, suggesting that dual-task interference may provide a sensitive indicator of effects of an aerobic intervention program on the cognitive performance among older adults.
KW - Aerobic
KW - Aging
KW - Cognition
KW - Walking
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85060275184&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.exger.2019.01.013
DO - 10.1016/j.exger.2019.01.013
M3 - Article
C2 - 30659955
AN - SCOPUS:85060275184
SN - 0531-5565
VL - 118
SP - 99
EP - 105
JO - Experimental Gerontology
JF - Experimental Gerontology
ER -