Cybercycling for Cognitive Health

Cybercycling for Older Adults: Neuropsychological, Physiological and Behavioral Effects

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01167400

Enrollment

Registered

2010-07-22

Start date

2008-07-31

Completion date

2010-08-31

Last updated

2014-09-05

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cognitive Ability, General

Keywords

exercise, executive function, older adults

Brief summary

Exercise has been linked to cognitive health, but few older adults exercise at recommended levels. Cybercycling may provide additional cognitive benefits due to increased motivation to ride the interactive 3D tours. Participants will be randomly assigned to three months of either cybercycling or traditional stationary biking; and they will complete comprehensive evaluations before and after exercise. Older adults are expected to show significant neuropsychological, physiological and behavioral gains.

Detailed description

The purpose of this study is to test the following hypotheses: (1) stationary cycling with virtual reality tours (cybercyle) will enhance executive function and clinical status more than traditional exercise; (2) exercise effort will explain improvement; and (3) brain-derived neurotrophic growth factor (BDNF) will increase.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALCybercycling

exercising on a videogame-enhanced interactive 3D stationary bicycle for 3 months, 3-5x/wk

BEHAVIORALTraditional exercise

exercising on a traditional stationary bike for 3 months, 3-5x/wk

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

50 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* age 50+ * able to participate in cycling * physician permission

Exclusion criteria

* unstable heart condition * physician denial * neurological condition

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in cognitive function after three months of exercise.	3 months	Cognitive function, especially executive function, will be assessed before and after three months of either cybercycling or traditional exercise biking. Neuropsychological tests will assess: cognitive flexibility and simultaneous processing(i.e., Stroop, Digits Backwards, and Trails Difference Score).

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Weight	3 months	Weight and other physiological factors will be assessed before and after 3 months of exercise.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 27, 2026