Aging
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to see if exercise can improve brain function in older adults
Detailed description
Recently, considerable attention has been devoted to examining the beneficial relationship between cognition and aerobic exercise in older adults. Specifically, the effects are thought to involve higher order cognitive processes, such as working memory, switching between tasks, and inhibiting irrelevant information, all of which are thought to be sub- served, in part, by the frontal lobes (Colcombe et al., 2006). Importantly, these areas also are most susceptible to age-related decline (Raz, 2000) and are essential resources for language production (Kemper & Sumner, 2001; Murray & Lenz, 2001). However, despite promising cognitive improvement, changes in frontally-mediated executive language functions have been widely ignored. This is unfortunate considering impaired word retrieval compromises communicative effectiveness, leading to frustration, depression, and withdrawal. Perhaps more importantly, communication ineffectiveness, particularly in the elderly, leads to difficulties interacting with health care professionals leading to further health care burdens. Since cognition, and specifically word retrieval difficulties, usually remain untreated, it is important to find treatment strategies for minimizing these deficits. Therefore, the short-term goal and the purpose of this proposal is to examine the potential of aerobic exercise to improve executive language function in older adults.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALAerobic group
12 weeks of aerobic exercise 3 times a week
Sponsors
US Department of Veterans Affairs
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to 89 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Consent of participants' primary health care physicians to participate in the aerobic exercise. * Patients must not have participated in any consistent exercise program or experimental study for at least 3 months prior to enrollment. * They must be capable of providing informed consent and complying with the trial procedures.
Exclusion criteria
* Demented as defined by the Modified Mini Mental Status Exam. * Unalterable travel schedules. * Site accessibility constraints.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Executive Language Functions | number of correct words at pre and post separated by 12 weeks | The Verbal Fluency Test is demonstrated to be reliable and valid among adults aged 50 to 89 (Delis, et al., 2001; Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Hodnack, 2004). The Verbal Fluency Test has three conditions, Letter Verbal Fluency, Category Verbal Fluency, and Switching Verbal Fluency. Each was randomized at pre- and post-12 week timeline and equated for difficulty. Letter Verbal Fluency assesses the number of words beginning with certain letters that participants can generate within 60 seconds,the Category Verbal Fluency assesses the number of words within particular categories participants can generate within 60 seconds, and the Switching Verbal Fluency assesses the number of words while alternating between different categories participants can generate within 60 seconds. For each condition (letter, category, and switching) a total score representing the total number of correct |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| Aerobic Group 12 weeks of aerobic exercise 3 times a week
Aerobic group: 12 weeks of aerobic exercise 3 times a week | 10 |
| Control Group No contact control | 8 |
| Total | 18 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Aerobic Group | Control Group | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, Categorical <=18 years | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Age, Categorical >=65 years | 10 Participants | 8 Participants | 18 Participants |
| Age, Categorical Between 18 and 65 years | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino | 8 Participants | 6 Participants | 14 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 2 Participants | 2 Participants | 4 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Asian | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American | 2 Participants | 1 Participants | 3 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race | 0 Participants | 1 Participants | 1 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 2 Participants | 2 Participants | 4 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) White | 6 Participants | 4 Participants | 10 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 10 participants | 8 participants | 18 participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 6 Participants | 4 Participants | 10 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 4 Participants | 4 Participants | 8 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | — / — | — / — |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 10 | 0 / 8 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 10 | 0 / 8 |
Outcome results
Primary
Executive Language Functions
The Verbal Fluency Test is demonstrated to be reliable and valid among adults aged 50 to 89 (Delis, et al., 2001; Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Hodnack, 2004). The Verbal Fluency Test has three conditions, Letter Verbal Fluency, Category Verbal Fluency, and Switching Verbal Fluency. Each was randomized at pre- and post-12 week timeline and equated for difficulty. Letter Verbal Fluency assesses the number of words beginning with certain letters that participants can generate within 60 seconds,the Category Verbal Fluency assesses the number of words within particular categories participants can generate within 60 seconds, and the Switching Verbal Fluency assesses the number of words while alternating between different categories participants can generate within 60 seconds. For each condition (letter, category, and switching) a total score representing the total number of correct
Time frame: number of correct words at pre and post separated by 12 weeks
| Arm | Measure | Group | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerobic Group | Executive Language Functions | Letter Verbal Fluency- Pre | 31.6 Mean outpoint by group at pre and post | Standard Deviation 6 |
| Aerobic Group | Executive Language Functions | Letter Verbal Fluency- Post | 33.7 Mean outpoint by group at pre and post | Standard Deviation 6 |
| Aerobic Group | Executive Language Functions | Category Verbal Fluency- Pre | 39 Mean outpoint by group at pre and post | Standard Deviation 5.4 |
| Aerobic Group | Executive Language Functions | Category Verbal Fluency- Post | 45.1 Mean outpoint by group at pre and post | Standard Deviation 8.1 |
| Aerobic Group | Executive Language Functions | Switching Verbal Fluency- Pre | 10.6 Mean outpoint by group at pre and post | Standard Deviation 2.5 |
| Aerobic Group | Executive Language Functions | Switching Verbal Fluency- Post | 13.1 Mean outpoint by group at pre and post | Standard Deviation 1.7 |
| Control Group | Executive Language Functions | Switching Verbal Fluency- Pre | 11.4 Mean outpoint by group at pre and post | Standard Deviation 1.7 |
| Control Group | Executive Language Functions | Letter Verbal Fluency- Pre | 30.8 Mean outpoint by group at pre and post | Standard Deviation 3.6 |
| Control Group | Executive Language Functions | Category Verbal Fluency- Post | 41 Mean outpoint by group at pre and post | Standard Deviation 4.4 |
| Control Group | Executive Language Functions | Letter Verbal Fluency- Post | 31.8 Mean outpoint by group at pre and post | Standard Deviation 2.6 |
| Control Group | Executive Language Functions | Switching Verbal Fluency- Post | 12.8 Mean outpoint by group at pre and post | Standard Deviation 2.5 |
| Control Group | Executive Language Functions | Category Verbal Fluency- Pre | 40.2 Mean outpoint by group at pre and post | Standard Deviation 3.9 |