Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Cognitive decline amongst older adults is a significant public health concern. There is growing interest in behavioral interventions, including exercise, for improving cognition. Studies to date suggest tai chi (TC) may be a safe and potentially effective exercise for preserving cognitive function with aging; however, its short-term and potential long-term impact on physically active, healthy adults is unclear.Objective
To compare differences in cognitive function among long-term TC expert practitioners and age-matched and gender-matched TC-naïve adults and to determine the effects of short-term TC training on measures of cognitive function in healthy, nonsedentary adults.Design
A hybrid design including an observational comparison and a 2-arm randomized clinical trial (RCT).Participants
Healthy, nonsedentary, TC-naive adults (50 y-79 y) and age-matched and gender-matched long-term TC experts.Methods
A cross-sectional comparison of cognitive function in healthy TC-naïve (n=60) and TC expert (24.5 y ÷ 12 y experience; n=27) adults: TC-naïve adults then completed a 6-month, 2-arm, wait-list randomized clinical trial of TC training. Six measures of cognitive function were assessed for both cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons.Results
TC experts exhibited trends towards better scores on all cognitive measures, significantly so for category fluency (P=.01), as well as a composite z score summarizing all 6 cognitive assessments (P=.03). In contrast, random assignment to 6 months of TC training in TC-naïve adults did not significantly improve any measures of cognitive function.Conclusions
In healthy nonsedentary adults, long-term TC training may help preserve cognitive function; however, the effect of short-term TC training in healthy adults remains unclear.Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01340365.
SUBMITTER: Walsh JN
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4533658 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

Walsh Jacquelyn N JN Manor Brad B Hausdorff Jeffrey J Novak Vera V Lipsitz Lewis L Gow Brian B Macklin Eric A EA Peng Chung-Kang CK Wayne Peter M PM
Global advances in health and medicine 20150701 4
<h4>Background</h4>Cognitive decline amongst older adults is a significant public health concern. There is growing interest in behavioral interventions, including exercise, for improving cognition. Studies to date suggest tai chi (TC) may be a safe and potentially effective exercise for preserving cognitive function with aging; however, its short-term and potential long-term impact on physically active, healthy adults is unclear.<h4>Objective</h4>To compare differences in cognitive function amon ...[more]