The Effects of a Single Bout of Aerobic Exercise on Cognition: The Moderating Role of Age

NCT05226039 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: FY22-134
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 55
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The current clinical study will have two groups of participants (young adults ages 20 - 30, and older adults ages 60 - 70) take part in three visits to the lab. On the first visit participants will fill out questionnaires assessing demographics and physical activity level. On the 2nd and 3rd visits participants will be engage in both a moderate intensity bout of aerobic exercise for 20 minutes, and 20 minutes of resting on a stationary bike watching an educational video. These two visits will be counterbalanced across age groups. Following both the exercise bout and the resting control condition participants will complete cognitive tasks assessing episodic memory and executive functioning. The first hypothesis is that older adults who are more physically active (assessed via questionnaire) will have significantly greater cognitive abilities compared to those who are less active or sedentary. The second hypothesis is that following a single bout of moderate intensity aerobic exercise, older adults will have a greater magnitude of change in their short-term memory, and long-term memory performance compared to younger adults.

Conditions

Cognitive Performance

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Episodic memory - Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task Visit 1

  The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning task (RAVLT) will assess single-item episodic memory. The number of words correctly recalled on 8 trials will be measured.

  Approximately 20 minutes into visit 1.

• Episodic memory - Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task Visit 2

  The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning task (RAVLT) will assess single-item episodic memory. The number of words correctly recalled on 8 trials will be measured.

  immediately following exercise or control (witnin 5 minutes)

• Episodic memory - Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task Visit 3

  The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning task (RAVLT) will assess single-item episodic memory. The number of words correctly recalled on 8 trials will be measured.

  immediately following exercise or control (within 5 minutes)

• Episodic memory - Associative memory task Visit 1

  Participants will hear pairs of words read to them over an audio recording. Following this they will be asked to name the second word in each pair during recall. The number of words correctly recalled on 3 trials will be measured.

  Approximately 45 minutes into visiti 1.

Secondary Outcomes (12)

• Executive functioning - Stroop reaction time Visit 1

  Executive functioning will be measured 7 minutes after completion of the exercise or control conditions.

• Executive functioning - Stroop reaction time Visit 2

  Executive functioning will be measured 7 minutes after completion of the exercise or control conditions.

• Executive functioning - Stroop reaction time Visit 3

  Executive functioning will be measured 7 minutes after completion of the exercise or control conditions.

• Executive functioning - Stroop accuracy Visit 1

  Executive functioning will be measured 7 minutes after completion of the exercise or control conditions.

• Executive functioning - Stroop accuracy Visit 2

  Executive functioning will be measured 7 minutes after completion of the exercise or control conditions.

Study Arms (2)

Young adult group

OTHER

One group will consist of 20 to 30 year olds. Participants will complete all three visits that include both the treatment (exercise visit) and the control (rest) visits. The treatment visit will consist of 20 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise on a stationary bike.

Behavioral: Moderate intensity acute exercise bout

Older adult group

OTHER

The other group will consist of 60 to 70 year olds. Participants will complete all three visits that include both the treatment (exercise visit) and the control (rest) visits. The treatment visit will consist of 20 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise on a stationary bike.

Behavioral: Moderate intensity acute exercise bout

Interventions

Moderate intensity acute exercise bout BEHAVIORAL

The treatment/intervention will consist of 20 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise on a stationary bike. Intensity will be prescribed based off of heart rate reserve.

Older adult group; Young adult group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 20 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• to 30 years old for young adult group
• to 70 years old for older adult group
• Cognitive normal (assessed via Montreal Cognitive Assessment on visit 1)

You may not qualify if:

• Do not have any contraindications to exercise (assessed via American College of Sport Medicine Health screening form)
• No current musculoskeletal injuries

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of North Carolina, Greensboro: lead
• North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Greensboro, North Carolina, 27402, United States

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Model Details: Following the first visit, participants will be randomly counterbalanced to one of the two conditions first (exercise, or control condition). Following completion of the first condition, the third visit will be completion of the other condition.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 4, 2021
• First Posted: February 7, 2022
• Study Start: October 5, 2021
• Primary Completion: May 20, 2022
• Study Completion: May 20, 2022
• Last Updated: June 24, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-06

Locations

US (1)