The Effect of Physical Activity on the Brain

Clinical Study on the Effect of Physical Activity on Cognition and Memory in the Elderly

Status

UNKNOWN

Phases

Phase 3

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01475396

Enrollment

120

Registered

2011-11-21

Start date

2006-03-31

Completion date

2012-12-31

Last updated

2012-06-19

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

Conditions

Aerobic Exercise, Anaerobic Exercise, Unchanged Condition

Keywords

exercise, physical activity, cognition, brain, aging, BDNF

Brief summary

Physical activity is thought to increase overall body functions and to decrease cardiovascular and stroke risk factors. Now the question arose, wether enhanced exercise could also exert positive influence on cognition in the aging brain. Therefore, 50 to 80 years old healthy subjects take part in a prospective study with regular sports activity during 6 months. Cognitive functions are detected with sensitive neuropsychological outcome measures, further investigations include MRT of the head, lactat- and other physical measures as well as detailed serum profiles. As a hypothesis, enhanced physical activity is suggested to predict better cognitive performance.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALexercise

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

50 Years to 80 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* 50-80 years old * healthy * lesser activity

Exclusion criteria

* regular physical activity * diabetes * stroke * heavy smoking, drinking, * BMI \< 20 * MMSE \< 25

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Change of reaction times in ms in a motor learning task after 6 months of intervention/control condition	6 months
Change of delayed memory scores in #of words in a Verbal learning task after 6 months of intervention/control condition	6 months
Change of performance in ms in a reaction time task after 6 months of intervention/control condition	6 months
Change of relative regional grey matter volumes in % measured by T1-weighted MRI after 6 months of intervention/control condition	6 months

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Change of physical measurements (ECG)/fitness assessments (lactate) after 6 months of intervention/control condition	6 months
Change of BDNF blood serum levels in ng/dl after 6 months of intervention/control condition	6 months

Countries

Germany

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026