Abstract
The present study evaluates the effect of cognitive training, of psychoeducational training and of physical training on cognitive functioning, physical functioning, physical health, independent living and well-being in older people. Also the combination of physical training with cognitive training or psychoeducational training, respectively, was evaluated. In contrast to most training studies with older people, training effects were evaluated in a longitudinal perspective over 5 years to analyse long-term-results of cognitive and physical activity on older adults. Training effects were evaluated compared to a no-treatment-control group. Subjects were 375 community residents aged 75–93 years. Up to 5 years after baseline examination, significant training effects were observed in the group exposed to the combined cognitive and physical training. The physical and cognitive status in the participants of this group could be preserved on a higher level compared to baseline, and the participants displayed fewer depressive symptoms than the no-treatment-control group. The results are discussed in the light of recent research regarding the effects of mental and physical activity on brain function in older adults.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abt K (1987) Descriptive data analysis: a concept between confirmatory and exploratory data analysis. Meth Inform Med 26:77–88
Anschutz L, Camp CJ, Markley RP, Kramer JJ (1987) Remembering mnemonics: a three-year follow-up on the effects of mnemonics training in elderly adults. Exp Aging Res 13(3):141–143
Anstey K, Christensen H (2000) Education, activity, health, blood pressure and apolipoprotein E as predictors of cognitive change in old age: a review. Gerontology 46:163–177
Ari Z, Kutlu N, Sami UB, Taneli F, Buyukyazi G, Tavli T (2004) Serum testosterone, growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factor-1 levels, mental reaction time, and maximal aerobic exercise in sedentary and long-term physically trained elderly males. Int J Neurosci 114:623–637
Ball K, Berch DB, Helmers KJ, Jobe JB, Leveck MD, Marsiske M, Morris JN, Rebok GW, Smith DM, Tennstedt SL, Unverzagt FW, Willis SL (2002) Effects of cognitive training interventions with older adults. A randomized controlled trial. JAMA 288:2271–2281
Baltes PB, Mayer KU (eds) (1999) The Berlin aging study: aging from 70 to 100. Cambridge University Press, New York
Baumann H, Leye M (eds) (1995) Das SimA-Projekt: Psychomotorisches Training – Ein Programm für Seniorengruppen (The SimA-Project: Psychomotor Training. An Intervention Program for Senior Groups). Hogrefe, Göttingen
Bennett EL, Diamond MC, Krech D, Rosenzweig MR (1996) Chemical and anatomical plasticity of brain. J Neuropsychiatry 8(4):459–470 (First published in Science 1964, 146:610–619)
Blieszner R, Willis SL, Baltes PB (1981) Training research in aging on the fluid ability of inductive reasoning. J Appl Dev Psychol 2(3):247–265
Carlson JE, Ostir GV, Black SA, Markides KS, Rudkin L, Goodwin JS (1999) Disability in older adults 2: physical activity as prevention. Behav Med 24(4):157–168
Cavallini E, Pagnin A, Vecchi T (2003) Aging and everyday memory: the beneficial effect of memory training. Arch Gerontol Geriat 37:241–257
Churchill JD, Galvez R., Colcombe S, Swain RA, Kramer AF, Greenough WT (2002) Exercise, experience and the aging brain. Neurobiol Aging 23:941–955
Colcombe SJ, Kramer AF (2003) Fitness effects on the cognitive function of older adults: a meta-analytic study. Psychol Sci 14:125–130
Diesfeldt HF, Diesfeldt-Groenendijk H (1977) Improving cognitive performance in psychogeriatric patients: the influence of physical exercise. Age Ageing 6:58–64
Edwards JD, Wadley VG, Vance De, Wood K, Roenker DL, Ball KK (2005) The impact of speed of processing training on cognitive and everyday performance. Aging Ment Health 9:262–271
Eriksson PS, Perfilieva E, Björk-Eriksson T, Alborn A-M, Nordborg C, Peterson D, Gage FH (1998) Neurogenesis in the adult human hippocampus. Nat Med 4(11):1313–1317
Gallo JJ, Rebok GW, Tennstedt S, Wadley VG, Horgas A, The Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) Study investigators (2003) Linking depressive symptoms and functional disability in late life. Aging Ment Health 7(6):469–480
Gatterer G (1990) Alters-Konzentrations-Test (AKT) Handanweisung (Aging Concentration Test Manual). Hogrefe, Göttingen
Hedges LV (1982) Estimation of effect size from a series of independent experiments. efg Bull 92:490–499
Heyn P, Abreu BC, Ottenbacher KJ (2004) The effects of exercise training on elderly persons with cognitive impairment and dementia: a meta-analysis. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 85:1694–1704
Horn W (1983) Leistungsprüfsystem L-P-S. Handanweisung (Achievement Measure. Manual). Göttingen: Hogrefe
Jobe JB, Smith DM, Ball K, Tennstedt SL, Marsiske M, Willis SL, Rebok GW, Morris JN, Helmers KF, Leveck MD, Kleinman K (2001) ACTIVE: a cognitive intervention trial to promote independence in older adults. Control Clin Trials 22(4):453–479
Kahana E, Lawrence RH, Kahana B, Kercher K, Wisniewski A, Stoller E, Tobin J, Stange K (2002) Long-term impact of preventive proactivity on quality of life of the old-old. Psychosom Med 64:382–394
Kempermann G, Kuhn HG, Gage FH (1997) More hippocampal neurons in adult mice living in an enriched environment. Nature 386(6624):493–495
Kramer AF, Willis SL (2002) Enhancing the cognitive validity of older adults. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 11(5):173–178
Kramer AF, Willis SL (2003) Cognitive plasticity and aging. In: Ross B (ed) Psychology of learning and motivation. Academic, New York, p 43
Lindsay J, Laurin D, Verreault R, Hérbert R, Helliwell B, Hill GB, McDowell I (2002) Risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease: a prospective analysis from the Canadian study of health and aging. Am J Epidemiol 156:445–453
McAuley E, Elavsky S, Jerome GJ, Konopack JF, Marquez DX (2005) Physical activity-related well-being in older adults: social cognitive influences. Psychol Aging 20:295–302
McDowell K, Kerick SE, Santa Maria DL, Hatfield BD (2003) Aging, physical activity, and cognitive processing: an examination of P300. Neurobiol Aging 24:597–606
Molloy DW, Richardson LD, Crilly RG (1988) The effects of a three-month exercise program on neuropsychological function in elderly institutionalized women: a randomized controlled trial. Age Ageing 17:303–310
Naylor E, Penev PD, Orbeta L, Janssen I, Ortiz R, Colecchia EF, Keng M, Finkel S, Zee PC (2000) Daily social and physical activity increases slow-wave sleep and daytime neuropsychological performance in the elderly. Sleep 23:87–95
Netz Y, Wu M-J, Becker BJ, Tenenbaum G (2005) Physical activity and psychological well-being on advanced age: A meta-analysis of intervention studies. Psychol Aging 20:272–284
North AJ, Ulatowska HK (1981) Competence in independently living older adults. J Gerontol 36:576–582
Ormerod BK, Galea LAM (2001) Mechanism and function of adult neurogenesis. In: Shaw CA, McEachern JC (eds) Toward a theory of neuroplasticity. Psychology Press, Hove, pp 85–100
Oswald WD (ed) (1998) Das SimA-Projekt: Gedächtnistraining – Ein Programm für Seniorengruppen, 2. Aufl. (The SimA Project: Memory Training. A Program for Senior Groups, 2nd Ed.). Hogrefe, Göttingen
Oswald WD, Fleischmann UM (2006) Neuropsychological aging inventory (NAI). Hogrefe, Göttingen
Oswald WD, Gunzelmann T (eds) (2001) Das SimA-Projekt: Kompetenztraining—Ein Programm für Seniorengruppen, 3. Aufl. (The SimA Project: Competence Training. A Program for Senior Groups. 3rd Ed.). Hogrefe, Göttingen
Owsley C, Sloane M, McGwin G, Jr, Ball K (2002) Timed instrumental activities of daily living tasks: relationship to cognitive function and everyday performance assessments in older adults. Gerontology 48:254–265
Pinquart M (2001) Correlates of subjective health in older adults. A meta-analysis. Psychol Aging 16:14–26
Saczynski JS, Willis SL, Schaie KW (2002) Strategy use in reasoning training with older adults. Aging Neuropsychol C 9(1):48–61
Schaie KW, Willis SL (1986) Can decline in adult intellectual functioning be reversed? Dev Psychol 22(2):223–232
Scogin F, Bienias JL (1988) A three-year follow-up of older adult participants in a memory-skills training program. Psychol Aging 3(4):334–337
Shader RI, Harmatz JS, Salzman C (1974) A new scale for clinical assessment on geriatric populations: SANDOZ Clinical Assessment – Geriatrics (SCAG). J Am Geriatr Soc 22:107–113
Sihvonen SE, Sipilä S, Era PA (2004) Changes in postural balance in frail elderly women during a 4-week visual feedback training: a randomized controlled trial. Gerontology 50(2):87–95
Spatz H-C (1996) Hebb’s concept of synaptic plasticity and neuronal cell assemblies. Behav Brain Res 78(1):3–7
Spirduso WW, Cronin DL (2001) Exercise dose-response effects on quality of life and independent living in older adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc 33(6 Suppl):S598-S608
von Steinbüchel N, Lischetzke T, Gurny M, Eid M (2006) Assessing quality of life in older people: psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-BREF. Eur J Ageing 3:116–122
Stigsdotter A, Bäckman L (1995) Effects of multifactorial memory training in old age: generalizability across tasks and individuals. J Gerontol: Psychol Sci 50B(3):134–140
Valenzuela MJ, Jones M, Wen W, Rae C, Graham S, Shnier R, Sachdev P (2003) Memory training alters hippocampal neurochemistry in healthy elderly. Neuroreport 14:1333–1337
Verbrugge LM (1990) The iceberg of disability. In: Stahl SM (ed) The legacy of longevity. Sage, Newbury park, CA, pp 55–75
Verhaeghen P, Marcoen A, Goossens L (1992) Improving memory performance in the aged through mnemonic training: a meta-analytic study. Psychol Aging 7(2):242–251
Visser M, Pluijm SMF, Stel VS, Bosscher RJ, Deeg DJH (2002) Physical activity as a determinant of change in mobility performance: the longitudinal aging study Amsterdam. J Am Geriatr Soc 50(11):1774–1781
Wahl HW (1991) Dependence in the elderly from an interactional point of view: verbal and observational data. Psychol Aging 6:238–246
Wechsler D (1981) Wechsler adult intelligence scale—revised (WAIS-R). Psychological Corporation, New York
Wei LJ, Lachin JM (1984) Two-sample asymptotically distribution-free tests for incomplete multivariate observations. J Am Statist Assoc 79:653–661
Willis SL, Nesselroade CS (1990) Long-term effects of fluid ability training in old-old age. Dev Psychol 26(6):905–910
Yaffe K, Barnes D, Nevitt M, Lui L-Y, Covinsky K (2001) A prospective study of physical activity and cognitive decline in elderly women. Arch Intern Med 161:1703–1706
Yesavage JA (1985) Nonpharmacologic treatment for memory losses with normal aging. Am J Psychiat 142:600–605
Zung WWK (1965) A self-rating depression scale. Arch Gen Psychiat 12: 63–70
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oswald, W.D., Gunzelmann, T., Rupprecht, R. et al. Differential effects of single versus combined cognitive and physical training with older adults: the SimA study in a 5-year perspective. Eur J Ageing 3, 179–192 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-006-0035-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-006-0035-z