Neuroscience
This week's issue of JAMA is getting a good deal of media attention for several articles that assess dietary intake and exercise habits and their impact on cognitive functioning and dementia in older indviduals.
Following is the abstract one of the reports. This study is also important in neuropsychology as it is part of the Nurses' Health Study, which is a large scale study of aging that includes telephone-based cognitive assessments.
Jennifer Weuve, ScD; Jae Hee Kang, ScD; JoAnn E. Manson, MD; Monique M. B. Breteler, MD; James H. Ware, PhD; Francine Grodstein, ScD. Physical Activity, Including Walking, and Cognitive Function in Older Women. JAMA. 2004;292:1454-1461.
Context: Physical activity may help maintain cognitive function in older adults.
Objective: To examine the relation of long-term regular physical activity, including walking, to cognitive function.
Design: Women reported participation in leisure-time physical activities on biennial mailed questionnaires beginning in 1986. We assessed long-term activity by averaging energy expenditures from questionnaires in 1986 through participants' baseline cognitive assessments (1995 to 2001). We used linear regression to estimate adjusted mean differences in baseline cognitive performance and cognitive decline over 2 years, across levels of physical activity and walking.
Setting and Participants: Nurses' Health Study, including 18 766 US women aged 70 to 81 years.
Main Outcome Measure: Validated telephone assessments of cognition administered twice approximately 2 years apart (1995 to 2001 and 1997 to 2003), including tests of general cognition, verbal memory, category fluency, and attention.
Results: Higher levels of activity were associated with better cognitive performance. On a global score combining results of all 6 tests, women in the second through fifth quintiles of energy expenditure scored an average of 0.06, 0.06, 0.09, and 0.10 standard units higher than women in the lowest quintile (P for trend <.001). Compared with women in the lowest physical activity quintile, we found a 20% lower risk of cognitive impairment for women in the highest quintile of activity. Among women performing the equivalent of walking at an easy pace for at least 1.5 h/wk, mean global scores were 0.06 to 0.07 units higher compared with walking less than 40 min/wk (P.003). We also observed less cognitive decline among women who were more active, especially those in the 2 highest quintiles of energy expenditure. Women in the fourth and fifth quintiles had mean changes in global scores that were 0.04 (95% confidence interval, 0.02-0.10) and 0.06 (95% confidence interval, 0.02-0.11) standard units better than those in the lowest quintile.
Conclusion: Long-term regular physical activity, including walking, is associated with significantly better cognitive function and less cognitive decline in older women.
Author Affiliations: Departments of Epidemiology (Drs Weuve, Manson, and Grodstein) and Biostatistics (Dr Ware), Harvard School of Public Health, and Channing Laboratory (Drs Kang, Manson, and Grodstein) and Division of Preventive Medicine (Dr Manson), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass; and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (Dr Breteler). Dr Weuve is now with the Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass.
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Neuroscience
Abstract of the Day: Walking and Cognitive Function
This week's issue of JAMA is getting a good deal of media attention for several articles that assess dietary intake and exercise habits and their impact on cognitive functioning and dementia in older indviduals.
Following is the abstract one of the reports. This study is also important in neuropsychology as it is part of the Nurses' Health Study, which is a large scale study of aging that includes telephone-based cognitive assessments.
Jennifer Weuve, ScD; Jae Hee Kang, ScD; JoAnn E. Manson, MD; Monique M. B. Breteler, MD; James H. Ware, PhD; Francine Grodstein, ScD. Physical Activity, Including Walking, and Cognitive Function in Older Women. JAMA. 2004;292:1454-1461.
Context: Physical activity may help maintain cognitive function in older adults.
Objective: To examine the relation of long-term regular physical activity, including walking, to cognitive function.
Design: Women reported participation in leisure-time physical activities on biennial mailed questionnaires beginning in 1986. We assessed long-term activity by averaging energy expenditures from questionnaires in 1986 through participants' baseline cognitive assessments (1995 to 2001). We used linear regression to estimate adjusted mean differences in baseline cognitive performance and cognitive decline over 2 years, across levels of physical activity and walking.
Setting and Participants: Nurses' Health Study, including 18 766 US women aged 70 to 81 years.
Main Outcome Measure: Validated telephone assessments of cognition administered twice approximately 2 years apart (1995 to 2001 and 1997 to 2003), including tests of general cognition, verbal memory, category fluency, and attention.
Results: Higher levels of activity were associated with better cognitive performance. On a global score combining results of all 6 tests, women in the second through fifth quintiles of energy expenditure scored an average of 0.06, 0.06, 0.09, and 0.10 standard units higher than women in the lowest quintile (P for trend <.001). Compared with women in the lowest physical activity quintile, we found a 20% lower risk of cognitive impairment for women in the highest quintile of activity. Among women performing the equivalent of walking at an easy pace for at least 1.5 h/wk, mean global scores were 0.06 to 0.07 units higher compared with walking less than 40 min/wk (P.003). We also observed less cognitive decline among women who were more active, especially those in the 2 highest quintiles of energy expenditure. Women in the fourth and fifth quintiles had mean changes in global scores that were 0.04 (95% confidence interval, 0.02-0.10) and 0.06 (95% confidence interval, 0.02-0.11) standard units better than those in the lowest quintile.
Conclusion: Long-term regular physical activity, including walking, is associated with significantly better cognitive function and less cognitive decline in older women.
Author Affiliations: Departments of Epidemiology (Drs Weuve, Manson, and Grodstein) and Biostatistics (Dr Ware), Harvard School of Public Health, and Channing Laboratory (Drs Kang, Manson, and Grodstein) and Division of Preventive Medicine (Dr Manson), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass; and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (Dr Breteler). Dr Weuve is now with the Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass.
- Among The Elderly, Slower Walkers Have Slower Brains
Older people who walk more slowly also perform less well on tests of mental performance - an association researchers say could prove useful for diagnosis and therapeutic interventions. Having excluded participants with major neurological impairment or...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Aging
Physical Activity and Risk of Cognitive Impairment Among Oldest-Old Women. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2013 Jul 3; Wang S, Luo X, Barnes D, Sano M, & Yaffe K.AbstractOBJECTIVES: Physical activity may reduce the risk of cognitive decline...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Assessment
Variability in performance: Identifying early signs of future cognitive impairment. Neuropsychology. 2012 Jul;26(4):534-540. Authors: Gamaldo AA, An Y, Allaire JC, Kitner-Triolo MH, Zonderman AB. Abstract Objective: The current study examined whether...
- Abstract Of The Day: Alzheimer Disease
Pavlik VN, Doody RS, Massman PJ, & Chan W. (2006). Influence of premorbid IQ and education on progression of Alzheimer's Disease. Dementia, Geriatrics, & Cognitive Disorders,22(4), 367-377. [Epub ahead of print] Department of Family and Community...
- Abstract Of The Day: Olfactory Functioning
Wilson RS, Arnold SE, Tang Y, & Bennett DA. Odor identification and decline in different cognitive domains in old age. Neuroepidemiology. 2006; 26(2): 61-67. Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, and Department of Neurological...