Device-Measured Sedentary Behavior, Physical Activity and Aerobic Fitness Are Independent Correlates of Cognitive Performance in Healthy Middle-Aged Adults—Results from the SCAPIS Pilot Study

Maria M Ekblom,Mats Börjesson,Christina Jern,Örjan B Ekblom,Göran Bergström,Anders Wallin

doi:10.3390/ijerph16245136

Abstract

High aerobic fitness, more moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and less sedentary behavior (SED) have all been suggested to promote cognitive functions, but it is unclear whether they are independent predictors of specific cognitive domains. This study aimed to investigate to what extent aerobic fitness MVPA and SED are independently associated with cognitive performance among middle-aged Swedish adults. We acquired device-based measures of aerobic fitness, cognitive performance and percent daily time spent in MVPA and SED in Swedish adults (n = 216; 54–66 years old). Aerobic fitness was associated with better performance at one out of two tests of speed/attention and one out of four tests of executive attention, and with worse performance at one of seven tests of memory. Increasing %MVPA was associated with better performance at one out of seven tests of memory and two out of three tests of verbal ability, whereas increasing %SED was associated with better performance at all four tests of executive attention and four out of seven tests of memory. These findings suggest that aerobic fitness, %MVPA and %SED are partly independent correlates of cognitive performance. To fully understand the association between SED and performance at several tests of cognitive function, future investigations might attempt to investigate intellectually engaging SED (such as reading books) separately from mentally undemanding SED (such as watching TV).

Highlights

Individuals with higher aerobic fitness have been shown to present with better academic performance [1], higher cognitive function [2,3,4], lower risks for early onset dementia [5], mild cognitive impairment [5] and stroke [6]
There were no significant differences between men and women in age, education, physical activity measures, smoking habits or the proportion of participants born outside of Sweden, while women were less fit and spent less time in sedentary behaviors (SED) and vigorous physical activity, and men were more likely to have high levels of triglycerides (Table 1)
%moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) showed an independent association to verbal fluency, and one out of seven measures of memory, while higher %SED was independently associated with better performance at several cognitive tests tapping executive attention and verbal memory

Summary

Introduction

Individuals with higher aerobic fitness have been shown to present with better academic performance [1], higher cognitive function [2,3,4], lower risks for early onset dementia [5], mild cognitive impairment [5] and stroke [6]. It is typically assumed that physical activity mainly promotes cognitive functions via its effect on aerobic fitness [8], which in turn improves cerebrovascular function [2], other mechanisms have been suggested [9,10] Both higher fit and more physically active individuals show greater hippocampal, prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia volume [11,12] than less fit and inactive controls, which together with extensive evidence from animal studies suggests that physical activity triggers the release and action of neurotrophic growth factors that promote neural tissues of importance for cognitive functions [10]. There is a large variability in sedentary behaviors (SED), such as sitting or lying among individuals with similar levels of physical activity [16]

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