Year: 2017
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The number of older individuals experiencing age related cognitive decline (ARCD) continues to grow exponentially. Memory, executive functioning, and cognitive processing speed have shown to be particularly sensitive to the effects of aging. The same regions of the brain associated with executive functioning and memory are also associated with mood. Researchers have shown an association between ARCD and depression. Research on physical activity (PA) continues to show a beneficial influence on cognition, physical health, and mood. Developmentally, women and men have normal differences in cognitive functioning. As women and men age, these differences can increase. In addition, researchers have shown that level of PA engagement between men and women can differ. Given these established relationships, continued investigation of how these variables interact is important. The aim of the current study is to use a healthy aging population to investigate the interaction of PA, depressive symptoms, and gender on cognitive functioning. Results showed that the overall optimal linear combination of PA, depressive symptoms, gender, and all interactions accounted for about 6.4% of the variance in memory performance (p < .05). Gender was also shown to be a significant predictor of memory performance (p < .01). Depressive symptoms were shown to be a significant predictor of executive functioning performance (p < .05). All other models were non-significant.
Author: Imari-Ashley F. Palma
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2806787712