THE EFFECT OF EXERCISE TRAINING ON THE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING OF COPD PATIENTS595

Abstract

In the elderly, cognitive functioning has been found to correlate positively with aerobic capacity (VO2) and negatively with age. It has been hypothesized that the mechanism underlying this relationship is the reduced supply of oxygen to the brain in the typical deconditioned elderly person. The age, low VO2, and impaired pulmonary system associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) make the COPD population ideal for investigation of this mechanism. Older sedentary adults (57-80 yrs) participating in the Reconditioning Exercise and Conditioning Trial study were recruited and randomly assigned to either Study 1 (n=38) or Study 2(n=20). Participants in Study 1 completed the Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CF), whereas participants in Study 2 completed a computer administered battery of tests which measured processing speed, working memory, and inhibition. Peak VO2 was measured and had a range of 8.8 ml/kg/min- 27.7 ml/kg/min. Results indicated that after controlling for education level, there was a significant negative relationship between age and performance on the CF, F(2,34)=17.33, p<.001. None of the other results were significant. It is concluded that performance on a fluid intelligence task is sensitive to the effects of aging. It is possible that at these low levels of fitness aerobic capacity is not an important predictor of cognitive performance. Future work in this area will benefit from the manipulation of aerobic fitness so that higher levels of fitness can be achieved.