CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS IS ASSOCIATED WITH INDICES OF NEUROCOGNITIVE FUNCTION IN ADULTS

Koehler RJ, Martens DM, Henderson JK. Cardiorespiratory Fitness is Associated With Indices of Neurocognitive Function in Adults. Journal of Undergraduate Kinesiology Research 2007;3(1):62-71. Purpose: Much is known of the relationship between physical fitness and health in aging adults. However, less is known about the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive functioning as the human body ages. The purpose of our study was to see how cardiorespiratory fitness correlates with cognitive functioning across a large age range. Methods: Our study consisted of 6 men and 7 women ranging from ages 20 to 60. Peak VO2 levels were gathered using Viasys and MedGraphics equipment. Cognitive functioning was measured using ImPACT software. Statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Version 14.0 (SPSS, Inc, Chicago, IL) Pearson r was calculated to determine the correlation between cardiorespiratory fitness and composite neurocognitive scores (verbal memory, visual memory, visual motor speed, and reaction time) from the ImPACT testing software. Results: The correlation between cardiorespiratory fitness and composite neurocognitive scores were significant (p < 0.05) at 0.7039, 0.7954, 0.8276, and -0.9218 for verbal memory, visual memory, visual motor speed, and reaction time, respectively. However, a significant correlation was also observed between cardiorespiratory fitness and age (-0.9507). Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that neurocognitive function is associated with aerobic fitness. However, this association was shown to be agedependent, suggesting age rather than cardiorespiratory fitness level as a predictor of neurocognitive ability.