Abstract
This study aimed to explore the effects of open- and closed-skill exercise interventions on the neurocognitive performance of executive functions in the elderly. Sixty-four healthy elderly males were randomly assigned to either a closed-skill (bike riding or brisk walking/jogging, n = 22), open-skill (table tennis, n = 21), or control (n = 21) group. Various neuropsychological [e.g., accuracy rates (AR) and reaction time (RT)] and electrophysiological [e.g., event-related potential (ERP) P3 component] measures were assessed during a variant of the task-switching paradigm, as well as an N-back task at baseline and after either a 6-month exercise intervention or control period. The results showed that, when performing the task-switching paradigm, the two exercise groups relative to control group showed significantly faster RTs in the switch trials after the exercise intervention. However, the RT facilitation in the non-switch and switch trials post-exercise relative to pre-exercise only emerged in the open-skill group. In terms of the N-back task, the two exercise groups significantly increased ARs in the 1-back condition after the exercise intervention, and the beneficial AR effect on the 2-back condition only emerged in the closed-skill group. In addition, the two exercise groups exhibited significantly larger P3 amplitudes on the frontal-to-parietal cortex areas after the exercise intervention relative to the baseline when performing the two cognitive tasks. These neurocognitive results still remained unchanged even when the confounding factors (e.g., cardiorespiratory fitness, social participation, and BMI) were controlled for. The present study concluded that, although 6-month open- and closed-skill exercise interventions facilitate overall electrophysiological effects (i.e., increased ERP P3 amplitudes) on the frontal-to-parietal cortices in the elderly, the two exercise modes produced different levels of neuropsychologically beneficial effects on RTs of the task-switching paradigm (i.e., lessened RTs) and ARs of the N-back task (i.e., enhanced ARs). The distinctive neurocognitive changes induced by open- and closed-skill exercise have implications for task switching and working memory in elderly individuals, especially with such cognitive functioning impairments.
Highlights
Life expectancy has been increasing in developed countries, resulting in a rapid growth in the elderly population
Paired t-tests showed that after the exercise intervention the open-skill group had significantly improved scores for the social participation, arm curl, chair stand, and 8foot up-and-go items, and approached significance for the level of cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max); and the results for the closed-skill group showed that the values of weight and body mass index (BMI) decreased significantly, the level of cardiorespiratory fitness was significantly enhanced, and the performance of memory depth approached significance
Even when the post-exercise cardiorespiratory fitness, social participation, and BMI were controlled for, the results of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) on the accuracy rates (AR) in the 2-back condition still indicated a significant difference in the three groups [F(2, 58) = 9.90, p < 0.001], with post-hoc analysis indicating that closed-skill group performed significantly better than the open-skill and control groups after the exercise intervention
Summary
Life expectancy has been increasing in developed countries, resulting in a rapid growth in the elderly population. A broad range of physical exercise types is possible, and different kinds of exercise seem to have specific effects on neurocognitive performance, due to the differences in the secretion of some biomarkers (e.g., brain-derived neurotrophic factor, insulin-like growth factor-1, and homocysteine) in the neurochemical system (Neeper et al, 1995; Liu-Ambrose et al, 2010; Cassilhas et al, 2012; Tsai et al, 2014b,c), and the differences in brain tissue volumes and activation patterns induced by different types of exercise (Luft et al, 2008; Park et al, 2008; Liu-Ambrose et al, 2010; Erickson et al, 2011; Tsai and Wang, 2015; Tsai et al, 2016) These earlier works seem to support the view that different types of physical exercise could affect the brain in different ways
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