NCT01183819

Cognitive Control and Physical Exercise

Cognitive Control and Physical Exercise: A Multi-Modal Intervention

• Status: Terminated
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 12 (actual)
• Sponsor: Columbia University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 60 Years – 75 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that aerobic exercise and a computer-based cognitive intervention leads to improved cognitive function accompanied by increases in gray matter density and changes in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) patterns of task-related activation.

Detailed description

Epidemiological evidence suggest that a set of lifetime exposures including educational and occupational attainment and leisure activities later in life are associated with more preserved cognitive and day-to-day functioning and reduced risk of dementia. However, the specific set of activities that can maintain or improve function in late life are relatively unexplored. In the current study, we will test the combined efficacy of two such activities: cognitive training and aerobic exercise. These activities have been shown to increase cognitive function and brain plasticity, respectively. The cognitive intervention that we will use is training with the Space Fortress task. This task is aimed at improving cognitive control processes that underlie multiple activities and are particularly affected by aging. We hypothesize that combining these two interventions will produce synergistic effects that will significantly improve cognitive and day-to-day function in healthy older adults. A total of 90 cognitively-healthy older adults will be recruited and randomly assigned to one of three conditions: control video game, control exercise and combined exercise and space fortress training. A range of cognitive and day-to-day functioning will be assessed at baseline and after three months of training. We will also assess compliance with a home-based version of the training program from the end of the 3-month laboratory-based training and the effect of this compliance on measures of cognition and day-to-day functioning. We hypothesize that the interventions can be sustained over a 1-year period and that larger benefits will be observed in participants that adhere to the protocol. We also propose two complementary approaches to investigating the neural correlates of the beneficial effects of aerobic exercise on cognition: 1) imaging -- we will use a combination of structural, metabolic, and cognitive activation fMRI studies to evaluate the neural substrates of the effect of aerobic exercise on cognition. 2) important correlates -- we will explore the effects of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, inflammatory markers and cognitive reserve on the cognitive effects of aerobic exercise.

Conditions

• Cognitive Function
• Day-to-Day Function

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Space Fortress	Space Fortress sessions 3 times a week for 12 weeks
BEHAVIORAL	Aerobic Exercise	Aerobic Exercise 4 times a week for 12 weeks
BEHAVIORAL	Stretching	Stretching/Toning exercise 4 times a week for 12 weeks.
BEHAVIORAL	Control Games	Control games session 3 times a week for 12 weeks

Timeline

• Start date: 2010-02-01
• Primary completion: 2015-06-01
• Completion: 2015-06-01
• First posted: 2010-08-18
• Last updated: 2015-08-05

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States