SynthesisSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2018
Physical Activity Throughout the Adult Life Span and Domain-Specific Cognitive Function in Old Age: A Systematic Review of Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Data.
Synthesis in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Physical Activity and Cognitive Decline Among Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JAMA network open · 2024Pooled it
- Physical Activity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Which Real-World Accelerometry Measures Are Robust? A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of physical activity on the risk of frailty: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of Exercise Training Interventions on Executive Function in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2020Pooled it
- Long-Term Effects of a 5-Year Randomized Controlled Exercise Trial on Brain Volumes and Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A 4-Year Post-Intervention Follow-Up Study.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Trial
- Effects of exercise on cognition and Alzheimer's biomarkers in a randomized controlled trial of adults with mild cognitive impairment: The EXERT study.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Trial
- Multi-domain Online Therapeutic Investigation Of Neurocognition (MOTION) - A randomized comparative-effectiveness study of two remotely delivered mind-body interventions for older adults with cognitive decline.Contemporary clinical trials · 2025Trial
- Aerobic exercise training and neurocognitive function in cognitively normal older adults: A one-year randomized controlled trial.Journal of internal medicine · 2022Trial
- Effects of 5 Years Aerobic Exercise on Cognition in Older Adults: The Generation 100 Study: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Trial
- Physical fitness and physical activity association with cognitive function and quality of life: baseline cross-sectional analysis of the PREDIMED-Plus trial.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Psychological and neurological benefits of physical activity: impact on mental health, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease.Brain structure & function · 2026Review
- Association of physical activity and rest-activity rhythm with sustained attention and melatonin among community-dwelling older adults.European review of aging and physical activity : official journal of the European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity · 2026Article
- Effects of two different doses of HIFT on physical function, cognitive performance, and quality of life in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: A randomized controlled trial.Journal of exercise science and fitness · 2025Article
- The role of age and physical fitness on the relationship between physical activity and executive function.Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS · 2025Article
- The Effect of Physical Activity on Executive Functions in the Elderly Population: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Cross-sectional study of activity habits, socioeconomic status, and cognitive performance in central China's adult population.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Late-life physical activity, midlife-to-late-life activity patterns, APOE ε4 genotype, and cognitive impairment among Chinese older adults: a population-based observational study.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Observational
- Metacognitive function in young adults is impacted by physical activity, diet, and sleep patterns.PloS one · 2025Article
- The effort hypothesis at the heart of the virtuous circle.EXCLI journal · 2025Review
- fMRI insights into differential brain activation, executive function, and physical activity in older adults.PloS one · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA growing body of literature suggests that physical activity might alleviate the age-related neurodegeneration and decline of cognitive function. However, most of this evidence is based on data investigating the association of exercise interventions or current physical activity behavior with cognitive function in elderly subjects.
objectiveWe performed a systematic review and hypothesize that physical activity during the adult life span is connected with maintained domain-specific cognitive functions during late adulthood defined as age 60+ years.
methodsWe performed a systematic literature search up to November 2017 in PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar without language limitations for studies analyzing the association of leisure physical activity during the adult life span (age 18+ years) and domain-specific cognitive functions in older adults (age 60+ years).
resultsThe literature review yielded 14,294 articles and after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, nine cross-sectional and 14 longitudinal studies were included. Moderate- and vigorous-intensity leisure physical activity was associated with global cognitive function and specific cognitive domains including executive functions and memory but not attention or working memory. Most studies assessed mid- to late-adulthood physical activity, thus information concerning the influence of young adult life-span physical activity is currently lacking.
conclusionsObservational evidence that moderate- and vigorous-intensity leisure physical activity is beneficially associated with maintained cognitive functions during old age is accumulating. Further studies are necessary to confirm a causal link by assessing objective physical activity data and the decline of cognitive functions at multiple time points during old age.
Indexed as
Identifiers
29667159What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.