Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Association of Physical Activity on Memory and Executive Function: Population-Based National Sample of Older Adults

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Journal of Cognitive Enhancement Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between physical activity and various components related to memory and executive function among older adults. Data from the 2011–2012 and 2013–2014 NHANES were used (N = 2241; 60+ years of age). The Global Physical Activity Questionnaire was utilized to assess recreational engagement in moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity. The memory and executive assessments included the CERAD (Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease) Word Learning subset, the animal fluency test, and the digit symbol substitution test (DSST). Vigorous-intensity physical activity was positively associated with trial 1 of the CERAD Word List (β = 0.01; 95% CI, 0.003–0.02), the average of trials 1–3 for the CERAD Word List (β = 0.01; 95% CI, 0.0001–0.02), animal fluency task (β = 0.10; 95% CI, 0.05–0.15), and the DSST (β = 0.19; 95% CI, 0.08–0.29). Older individuals meeting vigorous-intensity physical activity guidelines had superior memory and executive function.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aichberger, M., Busch, M., Reischies, F., Ströhle, A., Heinz, A., & Rapp, M. (2010). Effect of physical inactivity on cognitive performance after 2.5 years of follow-up: longitudinal results from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement (SHARE). GeroPsych: The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry, 23(1), 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvarez, J. A., & Emory, E. (2006). Executive function and the frontal lobes: a meta-analytic review. Neuropsychology Review, 16(1), 17–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-006-9002-x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, T., & Bull, F. (2006). Development of the world health organization global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ). Journal of Public Health, 14(2), 66–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbas, H. (2000). Connections underlying the synthesis of cognition, memory, and emotion in primate prefrontal cortices. Brain Research Bulletin, 52(5), 319–330.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bell-McGinty, S., Podell, K., Franzen, M., Baird, A. D., & Williams, M. J. (2002). Standard measures of executive function in predicting instrumental activities of daily living in older adults. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 17(9), 828–834. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.646.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bherer, L., Erickson, K. I., & Liu-Ambrose, T. (2013). A review of the effects of physical activity and exercise on cognitive and brain functions in older adults. Journal of Aging Research, 2013.

  • Bienias, J. L., Beckett, L. A., Bennett, D. A., Wilson, R. S., & Evans, D. A. (2003). Design of the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP). Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 5(5), 349–355.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Biondolillo, M. J., & Pillemer, D. B. (2015). Using memories to motivate future behaviour: an experimental exercise intervention. Memory, 23(3), 390–402.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bixby, W. R., Spalding, T. W., Haufler, A. J., Deeny, S. P., Mahlow, P. T., Zimmerman, J. B., & Hatfield, B. D. (2007). The unique relation of physical activity to executive function in older men and women. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 39(8), 1408–1416. https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e31806ad708.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bull, F. C., Maslin, T. S., & Armstrong, T. (2009). Global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ): nine country reliability and validity study. Journal of Physical Activity & Health, 6(6), 790–804.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns, J. M., Cronk, B. B., Anderson, H. S., Donnelly, J. E., Thomas, G. P., Harsha, A., … Swerdlow, R. H. (2008). Cardiorespiratory fitness and brain atrophy in early Alzheimer disease. Neurology, 71(3), 210–216.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Canning, S. J., Leach, L., Stuss, D., Ngo, L., & Black, S. E. (2004). Diagnostic utility of abbreviated fluency measures in Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia. Neurology, 62(4), 556–562.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, M., Jonsson, P. V., Snaedal, J., Bjornsson, S., Saczynski, J. S., Aspelund, T., … Harris, T. B. (2010). The effect of midlife physical activity on cognitive function among older adults: AGES—Reykjavik study. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biomedical Sciences and Medical Sciences, 65(12), 1369–1374.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, Y. K., Chu, C. H., Chen, F. T., Hung, T. M., & Etnier, J. L. (2017). Combined effects of physical activity and obesity on cognitive function: independent, overlapping, moderator, and mediator models. Sports Medicine, 47(3), 449–468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0589-7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, L. J., Gatz, M., Zheng, L., Chen, Y. L., McCleary, C., & Mack, W. J. (2009). Longitudinal verbal fluency in normal aging, preclinical, and prevalent Alzheimer’s disease. American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias, 24(6), 461–468. https://doi.org/10.1177/1533317509345154.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cleland, C. L., Hunter, R. F., Kee, F., Cupples, M. E., Sallis, J. F., & Tully, M. A. (2014). Validity of the global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ) in assessing levels and change in moderate-vigorous physical activity and sedentary behaviour. BMC Public Health, 14, 1255. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-1255.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Coffey, C. E., Wilkinson, W. E., Parashos, I. A., Soady, S. A., Sullivan, R. J., Patterson, L. J., … Djang, W. T. (1992). Quantitative cerebral anatomy of the aging human brain: a cross-sectional study using magnetic resonance imaging. Neurology, 42(3 Pt 1), 527–536.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colcombe, S., & Kramer, A. F. (2003). Fitness effects on the cognitive function of older adults: a meta-analytic study. Psychological Science, 14(2), 125–130. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.t01-1-01430.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colcombe, S. J., Erickson, K. I., Scalf, P. E., Kim, J. S., Prakash, R., McAuley, E., … Kramer, A. F. (2006). Aerobic exercise training increases brain volume in aging humans. The Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 61(11), 1166–1170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cotman, C. W., & Berchtold, N. C. (2002). Exercise: a behavioral intervention to enhance brain health and plasticity. Trends in Neurosciences, 25(6), 295–301.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cotman, C. W., Berchtold, N. C., & Christie, L.-A. (2007). Exercise builds brain health: key roles of growth factor cascades and inflammation. Trends in Neurosciences, 30(9), 464–472.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Daly, M., McMinn, D., & Allan, J. L. (2014). A bidirectional relationship between physical activity and executive function in older adults. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8.

  • De Jager, C. A., & Budge, M. M. (2005). Stability and predictability of the classification of mild cognitive impairment as assessed by episodic memory test performance over time. Neurocase, 11(1), 72–79.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Delhaye, E., Mechanic-Hamilton, D., Saad, L., Das, S. R., Wisse, L. E., Yushkevich, P. A., et al. (2018). Associative memory for conceptually unitized word pairs in mild cognitive impairment is related to the volume of the perirhinal cortex. Hippocampus.

  • Duff, K., Schoenberg, M. R., Scott, J. G., & Adams, R. L. (2005). The relationship between executive functioning and verbal and visual learning and memory. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 20(1), 111–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acn.2004.03.003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duke, L. M., & Kaszniak, A. W. (2000). Executive control functions in degenerative dementias: a comparative review. Neuropsychology Review, 10(2), 75–99.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duzel, E., van Praag, H., & Sendtner, M. (2016a). Can physical exercise in old age improve memory and hippocampal function? Brain, 139(3), 662–673.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Duzel, E., van Praag, H., & Sendtner, M. (2016b). Can physical exercise in old age improve memory and hippocampal function? Brain, 139(Pt 3), 662–673. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awv407.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ekkekakis, P. (2009). The dual-mode theory of affective responses to exercise in metatheoretical context: I. Initial impetus, basic postulates, and philosophical framework. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2(1), 73–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erickson, K. I., Raji, C. A., Lopez, O. L., Becker, J. T., Rosano, C., Newman, A. B., … Kuller, L. H. (2010). Physical activity predicts gray matter volume in late adulthood: the cardiovascular health study. Neurology, 75(16), 1415–1422. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181f88359.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fillenbaum, G. G., van Belle, G., Morris, J. C., Mohs, R. C., Mirra, S. S., Davis, P. C., … Heyman, A. (2008). Consortium to establish a registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD): the first twenty years. Alzheimers Dement, 4(2), 96–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2007.08.005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gao, S., Jin, Y., Unverzagt, F. W., Liang, C., Hall, K. S., Ma, F., … Hendrie, H. C. (2009). Hypertension and cognitive decline in rural elderly Chinese. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 57(6), 1051–1057.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Garber, C. E., Blissmer, B., Deschenes, M. R., Franklin, B. A., Lamonte, M. J., Lee, I. M., … American College of Sports, M. (2011). American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: guidance for prescribing exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 43(7), 1334–1359. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e318213fefb.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorbach, T., Pudas, S., Lundquist, A., Orädd, G., Josefsson, M., Salami, A., ... & Nyberg, L. (2017). Longitudinal association between hippocampus atrophy and episodic-memory decline. Neurobiology of Aging, 51(167–176).

  • Grundman, M., Petersen, R. C., Ferris, S. H., Thomas, R. G., Aisen, P. S., Bennett, D. A., … Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative, S (2004). Mild cognitive impairment can be distinguished from Alzheimer disease and normal aging for clinical trials. Archives of Neurology, 61(1), 59–66. https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.61.1.59.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hobson, P., & Leeds, L. (2001). Executive functioning in older people. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 11(4), 361–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hötting, K., & Röder, B. (2013). Beneficial effects of physical exercise on neuroplasticity and cognition. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(9), 2243–2257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hotting, K., Schickert, N., Kaiser, J., Roder, B., & Schmidt-Kassow, M. (2016). The effects of acute physical exercise on memory, peripheral BDNF, and cortisol in young adults. Neural Plasticity, 2016, 6860573. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/6860573.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, A., Jen, C., Chen, H., Yu, L., Kuo, Y., & Chen, H.-I. (2006). Compulsive exercise acutely upregulates rat hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Journal of Neural Transmission, 113(7), 803–811.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, T., Larsen, K. T., Ried-Larsen, M., Møller, N. C., & Andersen, L. B. (2014). The effects of physical activity and exercise on brain-derived neurotrophic factor in healthy humans: a review. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 24(1), 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huo, L., Li, R., Wang, P., Zheng, Z., & Li, J. (2018). The default mode network supports episodic memory in cognitively unimpaired elderly individuals: different contributions to immediate recall and delayed recall. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 10, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00006.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, Y., Park, I., & Kang, M. (2013). Convergent validity of the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ): meta-analysis. Public Health Nutrition, 16(3), 440–452.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, A. F., Hahn, S., Cohen, N. J., Banich, M. T., McAuley, E., Harrison, C. R., … Boileau, R. A. (1999a). Ageing, fitness and neurocognitive function. Nature, 400(6743), 418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, A. F., Hahn, S., Cohen, N. J., Banich, M. T., McAuley, E., Harrison, C. R., … Colcombe, A. (1999b). Ageing, fitness and neurocognitive function. Nature, 400(6743), 418–419. https://doi.org/10.1038/22682.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacharite-Lemieux, M., Brunelle, J. P., & Dionne, I. J. (2015). Adherence to exercise and affective responses: comparison between outdoor and indoor training. Menopause, 22(7), 731–740. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000000366.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, E. B., Wang, L., Bowen, J. D., McCormick, W. C., Teri, L., Crane, P., & Kukull, W. (2006). Exercise is associated with reduced risk for incident dementia among persons 65 years of age and older exercise, aging, and risk for incident dementia. Annals of Internal Medicine, 144(2), 73–81.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, D. Y., Lee, K. U., Lee, J. H., Kim, K. W., Jhoo, J. H., Kim, S. Y., … . Woo, J. I. (2004). A normative study of the CERAD neuropsychological assessment battery in the Korean elderly. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 10(1), 72–81. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617704101094.

  • Levine, B., Svoboda, E., Hay, J. F., Winocur, G., & Moscovitch, M. (2002). Aging and autobiographical memory: dissociating episodic from semantic retrieval. Psychology and Aging, 17(4), 677–689.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loprinzi, P. D. (2018). IGF-1 in exercise-induced enhancement of episodic memory. Acta Physiologica (Oxford, England), e13154. https://doi.org/10.1111/apha.13154.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loprinzi, P. D., & Frith, E. (2018a). A brief primer on the mediational role of BDNF in the exercise-memory link. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpf.12522.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loprinzi, P. D., & Frith, E. (2018b). Obesity and episodic memory function. The Journal of Physiological Sciences, 68(4), 321–331. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12576-018-0612-x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loprinzi, P. D., Herod, S. M., Cardinal, B. J., & Noakes, T. D. (2013). Physical activity and the brain: a review of this dynamic, bi-directional relationship. Brain Research, 1539, 95–104.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loprinzi, P. D., Edwards, M. K., & Frith, E. (2017). Potential avenues for exercise to activate episodic memory-related pathways: a narrative review. European Journal of Neuroscience.

  • Magnie, M. N., Bermon, S., Martin, F., Madany-Lounis, M., Suisse, G., Muhammad, W., & Dolisi, C. (2000). P300, N400, aerobic fitness, and maximal aerobic exercise. Psychophysiology, 37(3), 369–377.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mayes, A. R., & Roberts, N. (2001). Theories of episodic memory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 356(1413), 1395–1408.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Misra, P., Upadhyay, R. P., Krishnan, A., Sharma, N., & Kapoor, S. K. (2014). A community based study to test the reliability and validity of physical activity measurement techniques. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 5(8), 952.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, J. C., Heyman, A., Mohs, R. C., Hughes, J. P., van Belle, G., Fillenbaum, G., … Clark, C. (1989). The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD). Part I. Clinical and neuropsychological assessment of Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology, 39(9), 1159–1165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moscovitch, M., Cabeza, R., Winocur, G., & Nadel, L. (2016). Episodic memory and beyond: the hippocampus and neocortex in transformation. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 105–134.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, B. D., Holland, A. C., & Kensinger, E. A. (2013). Episodic memory and emotion. Handbook of Cognition and Emotion, 156–175.

  • Nakajima, S., Ohsawa, I., Ohta, S., Ohno, M., & Mikami, T. (2010). Regular voluntary exercise cures stress-induced impairment of cognitive function and cell proliferation accompanied by increases in cerebral IGF-1 and GST activity in mice. Behavioural Brain Research, 211(2), 178–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2010.03.028.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parkin, A. J., & Java, R. I. (1999). Deterioration of frontal lobe function in normal aging: influences of fluid intelligence versus perceptual speed. Neuropsychology, 13(4), 539–545.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Payne, J. D., Jackson, E. D., Ryan, L., Hoscheidt, S., Jacobs, J. W., & Nadel, L. (2006). The impact of stress on neutral and emotional aspects of episodic memory. Memory, 14(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658210500139176.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Plassman, B. L., Langa, K. M., Fisher, G. G., Heeringa, S. G., Weir, D. R., Ofstedal, M. B., … Wallace, R. B. (2007). Prevalence of dementia in the United States: the aging, demographics, and memory study. Neuroepidemiology, 29(1–2), 125–132. https://doi.org/10.1159/000109998.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ploughman, M. (2008). Exercise is brain food: the effects of physical activity on cognitive function. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 11(3), 236–240.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prince, M., Acosta, D., Chiu, H., Scazufca, M., Varghese, M., & Dementia Research, G. (2003). Dementia diagnosis in developing countries: a cross-cultural validation study. Lancet, 361(9361), 909–917. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12772-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Proust-Lima, C., Amieva, H., Dartigues, J. F., & Jacqmin-Gadda, H. (2007). Sensitivity of four psychometric tests to measure cognitive changes in brain aging-population-based studies. American Journal of Epidemiology, 165(3), 344–350. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwk017.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez-Gomez, L., Zheng, L., Reed, B., Kramer, J., Mungas, D., Zarow, C., … Chui, H. (2017). Neuropsychological profiles differentiate Alzheimer disease from subcortical ischemic vascular dementia in an autopsy-defined cohort. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 44(1–2), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1159/000477344.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Risacher, S. L., Wishart, H. A., & Saykin, A. J. (2011). Functional MRI studies of memory in aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease. Boston: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roig, M., Thomas, R., Mang, C. S., Snow, N. J., Ostadan, F., Boyd, L. A., & Lundbye-Jensen, J. (2016). Time-dependent effects of cardiovascular exercise on memory. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 44(2), 81–88.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roozendaal, B., McEwen, B. S., & Chattarji, S. (2009). Stress, memory and the amygdala. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience, 10(6), 423–433. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2651.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1997). Successful aging. The Gerontologist, 37(4), 433–440.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, S. M., & Nolan, Y. M. (2016). Neuroinflammation negatively affects adult hippocampal neurogenesis and cognition: can exercise compensate? Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 61, 121–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.12.004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scherder, E. J., Van Paasschen, J., Deijen, J. B., Van Der Knokke, S., Orlebeke, J. F., Burgers, I., … Sergeant, J. A. (2005). Physical activity and executive functions in the elderly with mild cognitive impairment. Aging & Mental Health, 9(3), 272–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607860500089930.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, A. J., Brasel, J., Hintz, R. L., Mohan, S., & Cooper, D. (1996). Acute effect of brief low-and high-intensity exercise on circulating insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I, II, and IGF-binding protein-3 and its proteolysis in young healthy men. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 81(10), 3492–3497.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shao, Z., Janse, E., Visser, K., & Meyer, A. S. (2014). What do verbal fluency tasks measure? Predictors of verbal fluency performance in older adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 772.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • St Jacques, P. L., & Levine, B. (2007). Ageing and autobiographical memory for emotional and neutral events. Memory, 15(2), 129–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658210601119762.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Szoeke, C., Dennerstein, L., Henderson, V., & Lehert, P. (2015). Verbal episodic memory is influenced by reported fatigue in otherwise healthy women: data from the women’s healthy ageing project. Alzheimer’s & dementia. The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, 11(7), 459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takashima, A., Nieuwenhuis, I. L., Jensen, O., Talamini, L. M., Rijpkema, M., & Fernandez, G. (2009). Shift from hippocampal to neocortical centered retrieval network with consolidation. The Journal of Neuroscience, 29(32), 10087–10093. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0799-09.2009.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tooze, J. A., Troiano, R. P., Carroll, R. J., Moshfegh, A. J., & Freedman, L. S. (2013). A measurement error model for physical activity level as measured by a questionnaire with application to the 1999-2006 NHANES questionnaire. American Journal of Epidemiology, 177(11), 1199–1208. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kws379.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Troiano, R. P., Berrigan, D., Dodd, K. W., Masse, L. C., Tilert, T., & McDowell, M. (2008). Physical activity in the United States measured by accelerometer. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 40(1), 181–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Troyer, A. K., Graves, R. E., & Cullum, C. M. (1994). Executive functioning as a mediator of the relationship between age and episodic memory in healthy aging. Aging and Cogntion, 1(1), 45–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tulving, E. (2002). Episodic memory: from mind to brain. Annual Review of Psychology, 53(1), 1–25.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tuokko, H., Griffith, L. E., Simard, M., & Taler, V. (2017). Cognitive measures in the Canadian longitudinal study on aging. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 31(1), 233–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2016.1254279.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Praag, H., Shubert, T., Zhao, C., & Gage, F. H. (2005). Exercise enhances learning and hippocampal neurogenesis in aged mice. Journal of Neuroscience, 25(38), 8680–8685.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vazzana, R., Bandinelli, S., Lauretani, F., Volpato, S., Lauretani, F., Di Iorio, A., … Ferrucci, L. (2010). Trail making test predicts physical impairment and mortality in older persons. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 58(4), 719–723. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.02780.x.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vilkki, J., & Holst, P. (1991). Mental programming after frontal lobe lesions: results on digit symbol performance with self-selected goals. Cortex, 27(2), 203–211.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Voss, M. W., Erickson, K. I., Prakash, R. S., Chaddock, L., Kim, J. S., Alves, H., ... & Olson, E. A. (2013). Neurobiological markers of exercise-related brain plasticity in older adults. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 28, 90–99.

  • Wechsler, D. (1958). The measurement and appraisal of adult intelligence. Academic Medicine, 33(9).

  • Winocur, G., Moscovitch, M., & Sekeres, M. (2007). Memory consolidation or transformation: context manipulation and hippocampal representations of memory. Nature Neuroscience, 10(5), 555–557. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1880.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Winter, B., Breitenstein, C., Mooren, F. C., Voelker, K., Fobker, M., Lechtermann, A., … Knecht, S. (2007). High impact running improves learning. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 87(4), 597–609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2006.11.003.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, O. T. (2008). The influence of stress hormones on emotional memory: relevance for psychopathology. Acta Psychologica, 127(3), 513–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.08.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Exercise Psychology Laboratory, Physical Activity Epidemiology Laboratory, Department of Health, Exercise Science and Recreation Management, School of Applied Sciences, The University of Mississippi, 229 Turner Center, University, Oxford, MS, 38677, USA

    Emily Frith & Paul D. Loprinzi

Authors
  1. Emily Frith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paul D. Loprinzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul D. Loprinzi.

Ethics declarations

Procedures were approved by the National Center for Health Statistics review board. Consent was obtained from all participants prior to data collection. Participant data from the 2011–2012 and 2013–2014 NHANES cycles were utilized, with participants derived from 1-year cohorts.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Frith, E., Loprinzi, P.D. Association of Physical Activity on Memory and Executive Function: Population-Based National Sample of Older Adults. J Cogn Enhanc 3, 425–435 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41465-019-00127-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41465-019-00127-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation