Effects of Two Short-Term Aerobic Exercises on Cognitive Function in Healthy Older Adults during COVID-19 Confinement in Japan: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Atsuko Miyazaki; Takashi Okuyama; Hayato Mori; Kazuhisa Sato; Keigo Kumamoto; Atsushi Hiyama

doi:10.3390/ijerph19106202

Effects of Two Short-Term Aerobic Exercises on Cognitive Function in Healthy Older Adults during COVID-19 Confinement in Japan: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 19;19(10):6202. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19106202.

Authors

Atsuko Miyazaki^{1

2}, Takashi Okuyama^{1

3}, Hayato Mori⁴, Kazuhisa Sato⁵, Keigo Kumamoto⁶, Atsushi Hiyama^{1

7}

Affiliations

¹ Information Somatics Laboratory, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan.
² Computational Engineering Applications Unit, Head Office for Information Systems and Cybersecurity, RIKEN, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
³ Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Kobe University, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
⁴ Super Reha, LLC., Tokyo 198-0074, Japan.
⁵ Care 21 Co., Ltd., Osaka 530-0003, Japan.
⁶ General Education Center, Nagano University of Health and Medicine, Nagano 381-2227, Japan.
⁷ Center for the Promotion of Social Data Science Education and Research, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo 186-8601, Japan.

Abstract

Aerobic exercise improves executive function-which tends to decline with age-and dual-task training with aerobic exercise improves the global cognitive function. However, home-based older adults could not follow these programs due to social isolation during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Therefore, we conducted a single-blind randomized controlled trial with 88 healthy older adults without dementia or sarcopenia who were randomly assigned into the Nordic walking (aerobic exercise), dance (dual-task training with aerobic exercise), or control group. The participants in both exercise intervention groups trained for 30 min, three times per week, for 4 weeks. All groups consumed amino acid-containing foods three times per week. We found that both exercise intervention groups showed improvements in executive function, while the dance group showed additional improvement in global cognitive function. The dance group showed a higher maximum gait speed, greater improvement in imitation ability, and improved executive function and cognitive function than the Nordic walking group. The intervention programs did not significantly affect the muscle mass or muscle output than the control group; however, both programs improved the participant neurological functions such as the heel lift, with dance training being the most effective intervention. In conclusion, dance training effectively improves cognitive function.

Keywords: COVID-19; Nordic walking; aerobic exercise; body composition; cognitive function; dancing; older adults; physical function.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
COVID-19*
Cognition / physiology
Exercise / psychology
Humans
Japan
Pilot Projects
Single-Blind Method

Grants and funding

This study was funded by Avex Entertainment, Inc. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication.