The positive effects of physical fitness on cognitive function in elderly individuals: lessons from the elite masters athletes
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Cognitive decline is one of the greatest concerns of aging, affecting adults aged 75 years and older (Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2010). As the proportion of seniors (> 65 years) continues to increase more rapidly than any other age group, the number of cases of cognitive impairment will continue to rise, reaching epidemic levels and placing an enormous burden on the health care system. Physical activity (PA) has been studied as a behavioural factor that has positive effects on age-related cognitive decline. Recent evidence shows that cognitive decline is lower in those who better maintain muscle strength and aerobic fitness with aging (Bherer, Erickson, & Liu-Ambrose, 2013; Colcombe & Kramer, 2003; Heyn, Abreu, & Ottenbacher, 2004; Spirduso & Clifford, 1978); however, the underlying mechanisms responsible for enhancing cognitive function with PA are still unclear. While there is a great amount of information gathered on age-related cognitive decline, there is a notable lack of knowledge on this topic in the older age groups (> 75 years) - where age-related cognitive impairment is so prevalent. The study presented in this thesis is unique because we investigated the relationship between cognitive decline and physical fitness in elderly (> 75 years) study participants. Furthermore, this is one of the only studies to investigate both cognitive and physical function in elderly world-class Masters Athletes (MA). MA are exceptional individuals who maintain higher-than-average PA levels compared to age-matched counterparts, and who train and compete in a variety of sport competitions well into advanced age. As such, the aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the relationship between cognitive function and physical fitness in a population most susceptible to age-related cognitive decline. We recruited 15 MA and 14 age-sex matched non-athlete controls (NAC) to undergo detailed investigations of physical fitness (maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max), peak isometric quadriceps strength, and PA levels), cognitive function (global cognitive function, processing speed and attention, learning and memory, language and verbal fluency, and mental flexibility), and functional capacity (10-repetition chair stand). As expected, we found that MA demonstrated superior indices of cognitive function in areas of global cognitive function, processing speed and attention, and learning and memory, and this superior cognitive function was associated with markers of greater physical fitness (VO2max and PA levels). Based on our findings, it is clear that greater fitness levels can be beneficial for maintaining cognitive function in an elderly (> 75 years) population.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.003 | 0.003 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.004 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".