Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
Volume
38
Issue
10
PubMed ID
37864564
Publisher
Wiley
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
64722
Funders
Australian Government Research Training Program / Open access publishing facilitated by Murdoch University, as part of the Wiley ‐ Murdoch University agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians
Abstract
Objectives: Observational studies consistently demonstrate that physical activity is associated with elevated cognitive function, however, there remains significant heterogeneity in cognitive outcomes from randomized exercise interventions. Individual variation in sleep behaviours may be a source of variability in the effectiveness of exercise-induced cognitive change, however this has not yet been investigated. The current study aimed to (1) investigate the influence of a 6-month exercise intervention on sleep, assessed pre- and post-intervention and, (2) investigate whether baseline sleep measures moderate exercise-induced cognitive changes. Methods: We utilised data from the Intense Physical Activity and Cognition (IPAC) study (n = 89), a 6-month moderate intensity and high intensity exercise intervention, in cognitively unimpaired community-dwelling older adults aged 60–80 (68.76 ± 5.32). Exercise was supervised and completed on a stationary exercise bicycle, and cognitive function was measured using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery administered pre- and post-intervention. Sleep was measured using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index. There was no effect of the exercise intervention on any sleep outcomes from pre- to post-intervention. Results: There was a significant moderating effect of baseline sleep efficiency on both episodic memory and global cognition within the moderate intensity exercise group, such that those with poorer sleep efficiency at baseline showed greater exercise-induced improvements in episodic memory. Conclusions: These results suggest that those with poorer sleep may have the greatest exercise-induced cognitive benefits and that baseline sleep behaviours may be an important source of heterogeneity in previous exercise interventions targeting cognitive outcomes.
DOI
10.1002/gps.6016
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Comments
Sewell, K. R., Rainey-Smith, S. R., Peiffer, J., Sohrabi, H. R., Doecke, J., Frost, N. J., . . . Brown, B. M. (2023). The influence of baseline sleep on exercise-induced cognitive change in cognitively unimpaired older adults: A randomised clinical trial. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 38(10), article e6016. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.6016