Higher Physical Fitness Levels Are Associated with Less Language Decline in Healthy Ageing

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2018 May 2

PMID 29712942

Citations 5

Authors

K Segaert

S J E Lucas

C V Burley

P Segaert

A E Milner

M Ryan

L Wheeldon

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Healthy ageing is associated with decline in cognitive abilities such as language. Aerobic fitness has been shown to ameliorate decline in some cognitive domains, but the potential benefits for language have not been examined. In a cross-sectional sample, we investigated the relationship between aerobic fitness and tip-of-the-tongue states. These are among the most frequent cognitive failures in healthy older adults and occur when a speaker knows a word but is unable to produce it. We found that healthy older adults indeed experience more tip-of-the-tongue states than young adults. Importantly, higher aerobic fitness levels decrease the probability of experiencing tip-of-the-tongue states in healthy older adults. Fitness-related differences in word finding abilities are observed over and above effects of age. This is the first demonstration of a link between aerobic fitness and language functioning in healthy older adults.

Citing Articles

Exercise and Protection from Age-Related Cognitive Decline.

Smith J, Callow D, Pena G, Kommula Y, Arnold-Nedimala N, Won J Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2024; 67:263-280.

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Cognitive Improvement Following Physical Exercise and Cognitive Training Intervention for Older Adults With MCI.

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Modelling Modifiable Predictors of Age-Related Cognitive Decline: Exercise, Aortic Stiffness, and the Importance of Physical Fitness.

Kennedy G, Meyer D, Hardman R, Macpherson H, Scholey A, Pipingas A J Alzheimers Dis Rep. 2020; 4(1):79-89.

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Healthy Aging and Sentence Production: Disrupted Lexical Access in the Context of Intact Syntactic Planning.

Hardy S, Segaert K, Wheeldon L Front Psychol. 2020; 11:257.

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