Acute Aerobic Exercise Effects on Cognitive Function in Older Adults

Abstract

Recent studies investigating the effects of acute aerobic exercise on event-related brain potentials (ERPs), and in particular the P3 component, have found evidence for changes in cognitive function. However, these studies only focused on young adults. Thus, it remains unclear whether similar acute aerobic exercise effects on cognitive function would extend to adults experiencing cognitive aging. PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of acute aerobic exercise on human cognitive function in older adults. METHODS: Twenty-four males (12 older adults: 65.5 ± 5.1 yrs, 12 young adults: 21.8 ± 2.1 yrs) participated in this experiment. They performed a modified flanker task during a baseline session (no exercise), and again after light (30 % VO2max) and moderate (50 % VO2max) pedaling exercises, while measures of task performance and P3 were collected. The modified flanker task comprised of congruent and incongruent conditions to manipulate executive control requirements. RESULTS: P3 latencies following both light and moderate exercises were shorter than in the baseline session across both age groups and task conditions (congruent and incongruent). These results support previous studies indicating that moderate intensity exercise facilitates cognitive function as reflected by the P3 component, suggesting that these acute exercise effects were same irrespective of age. Even though P3 latency following light exercise was also shorter than in the baseline session across age groups, reaction time following light exercise was longer than following moderate exercise. These findings suggest that moderate exercise might facilitate both stimulus evaluation processes and response processes, while light exercise might improve only the former. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides additional support for the beneficial effects of exercise on cognition during older adulthood, and suggests that light and moderate exercise may improve cognitive function across the adult lifespan.