EFECTOS DEL EJERCICIO FÍSICO SOBRE LA MEMORIA EPISÓDICA EN ANCIANAS CHILENAS SANAS EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL EXERCISE ON THE EPISODIC MEMORY IN HEALTHY ELDERLY CHILEANS

Our objective was to analyze the effect of a regular physical activity program on the verbal and visuospatial episodic memory on mentally healthy elderly Chileans. Participated 74 elderly women without cognitive impairment – divided into an intervention group = 34 elderly women, who carried out physical activity for six months; and a control group = 40 sedentary women. We used the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), and the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) for the evaluation of the episodic memory. Analysis were performed inter- and intra-group with t student and d of Cohen to measure the effect size of t-tests. The results showed statistically significant differences in the post-test between the Intervention Group (IG) and Control Group (CG); noticing better yields in the verbal and visual episodic memory of the IG with a large size effect. It is concluded that regular physical activity increases the processing capacity, retention, and evocation of the verbal and visual episodic information in healthy elderly women.