Examination of Baseline Physical Activity and Cognitive Function Data in Middle-Aged and Older Adults
Open Access
- Author:
- Chaffee, Camryn
- Area of Honors:
- Kinesiology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- David E Conroy, Thesis Supervisor
Mark Dyreson, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- physical activity
cognition
Alzheimer's disease
dementia
feasibility trial - Abstract:
- Introduction. Alzheimer’s Disease impacts over 6.5 million Americans and the estimated cost for caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States is $321 billion. The overall objective of this honors thesis was to examine the relationship between physical activity and cognitive function as a method for determining further areas of Alzheimer’s Disease research. As part of the DOSE Feasibility Trial, baseline data was collected and used for analysis. Methods. Participants from two age groups, middle-aged adults (40-59 years) and older adults (60-80 years), who owned an Apple Watch were enrolled in this study (N = 13). Participants wore an activPAL activity monitoring device for one week while also completing cognitive tests through an app four times daily. The devices were then returned to the study lab where the data was downloaded for each participant. The cognitive function app assessed data through the Mobile Monitoring of Cognitive Change (M2C2). Results. The majority of the sample was female (n = 13, 93%), White (n = 12, 86%), and had a bachelor’s degree (n = 6, 43%) with a mean age of 52.4 years. Using a multiple regression analysis, it was found that physical activity variables did not statistically significantly predict processing speed, F(3,9), p = 0.351, R2 = 0.30 or predict Grid Memory accuracy, F(3,9), p = 0.964, R2 = 0.029. Discussion. The baseline results from this study showed that our study protocol was feasible for recruiting participants and having them complete baseline procedures. Although underpowered, a non-significant trend suggested that adults with higher step counts had superior accuracy in working memory. Overall, the findings support the hypotheses that increased physical activity through MVPA and daily step counts are associated with better cognitive function, and that sedentary time is correlated with worse cognitive function.