Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada ; Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada ; Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada ; Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada ; Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada ; Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2014 May 27;8:353. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00353. eCollection 2014.
Previous studies have shown that exercise training benefits cognitive, neural, and physical health markers in older adults. It is likely that these positive effects will diminish if participants return to sedentary lifestyles following training cessation. Theory posits that that the neurocognitive processes underlying self-regulation, namely executive function (EF), are important to maintaining positive health behaviors. Therefore, we examined whether better EF performance in older women would predict greater adherence to routine physical activity (PA) over 1 year following a 12-month resistance exercise training randomized controlled trial. The study sample consisted of 125 community-dwelling women aged 65-75 years old. Our primary outcome measure was self-reported PA, as measured by the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE), assessed on a monthly basis from month 13 to month 25. Executive function was assessed using the Stroop Test at baseline (month 0) and post-training (month 12). Latent growth curve analyses showed that, on average, PA decreased during the follow-up period but at a decelerating rate. Women who made greater improvements to EF during the training period showed better adherence to PA during the 1-year follow-up period (β = -0.36, p < 0.05); this association was unmitigated by the addition of covariates (β = -0.44, p < 0.05). As expected, EF did not predict changes in PA during the training period (p > 0.10). Overall, these findings suggest that improving EF plays an important role in whether older women maintain higher levels of PA following exercise training and that this association is only apparent after training when environmental support for PA is low.
先前的研究表明，锻炼训练有益于老年人的认知、神经和身体健康指标。如果参与者在训练停止后恢复久坐不动的生活方式，这些积极的影响可能会减弱。理论认为，自我调节的神经认知过程，即执行功能（EF），对于维持积极的健康行为很重要。因此，我们研究了在 12 个月的抗阻训练随机对照试验后，年长女性的 EF 表现是否更好，是否能预测其在 1 年内更坚持常规体力活动（PA）。研究样本包括 125 名年龄在 65-75 岁之间的社区居住女性。我们的主要结果测量是自我报告的 PA，使用老年人体力活动量表（PASE）测量，从第 13 个月到第 25 个月每月评估一次。在基线（第 0 个月）和训练后（第 12 个月）使用 Stroop 测试评估执行功能。潜在增长曲线分析显示，平均而言，PA 在随访期间下降，但下降速度较慢。在训练期间 EF 有较大改善的女性在 1 年随访期间更坚持 PA（β=-0.36，p<0.05）；加入协变量后，这种关联仍然存在（β=-0.44，p<0.05）。正如预期的那样，EF 并没有预测训练期间 PA 的变化（p>0.10）。总的来说，这些发现表明，改善 EF 在年长女性是否能在锻炼训练后保持更高水平的 PA 方面发挥重要作用，并且只有在训练后环境对 PA 的支持较低时，这种关联才会显现出来。
