Effects of Physical and Mental trainings on Short-Term Memory and Information Processing Speed in Elderly Men with Mild Cognitive Impairment
Subject Areas : Effects of Movement and Exercise in Health
Arsalan Damirchi
1
(Departmrnt of Physical Education, Guilan Univeraity, Rasht, Guilan Province, Iran.)
reza rezaeeshirazi
2
(Islamic Azad University)
Saeed Ghorbani
3
(1Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran)
Keywords: elderly, information processing speed, Short-term memory, Physical exercise, Mental Exercise, Mild Cognitive Impairment,
Abstract :
Introduction: The purpose of the research was to study of the effectiveness of physical and mental trainings on short-term memory and processing speed in elderly men with MCI.Methodology: 34 participants randomly allocated into three groups were included physical training (PT; n=11), mental training (MT; n=11) and control group (CG; n=12). The trainings were performed for 8 weeks and three sessions per week. The PT group began running on treadmill from 20 minutes in the 1st to 4rd weeks and was afterward increased to 30 minutes in the 5rd to 8rd weeks. The intensity of the trainings was adjusted based on the Borg rating of perceived exertion scale in the range of 13 to 15.The MT also practiced Smart thinker on the Android operating system on tablets/cellphones and included easy, medium and hard levels. Research variables were measured before and after training, and also 3 months. Statistical analysis was performed using the repeated measure ANOVA followed by bonferroni post-hoc with significance set at P<.05. Results: Finding of bonferroni post-hoc test revealed significantly increase between PT compared with CG (p=.010) and MT compared with CG (p=.001) in post-test of short-term memory variable. Also. it revealed significantly increase between MT compared with PT (p=.030) and CG (p=.001) in post-test of processing speed.Conclusion: Results of the study recommended that 8 weeks of mental and physical trainings have effects on cognitive performance such as short-term memory and processing speed in elderly men with MCI. But, mental training is a more appropriate approach.
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