Aerobic exercise and physical activity (PA) are known to benefit cognition in adulthood. However, a typical older adult spends most of the day sedentary or in light PA, behaviors that are typically poorly captured by questionnaires. To better understand the associations between time spent in different intensities of lifestyle PA and cognition, we measured average time spent daily in sedentariness, light, and moderate to vigorous PA using hip-worn sensors (ActiGraph accelerometers). We studied baseline data from 228 cognitively normal adults (Age 60-80) who took part in a clinical trial (clinical study identifier: NCT01472744). Fluid (processing speed, memory, and reasoning) and crystallized abilities (vocabulary knowledge) were assessed with the Virginia Cognitive Aging Battery. Adjusting for age, sex, and several modifiable socioeconomic, physical and functional health factors, time spent daily in moderate to vigorous PA was positively related with fluid abilities (perceptual speed and reasoning). Furthermore, we found that those spending more time sedentary performed better on vocabulary knowledge and reasoning tasks. In contrast, time spent in light PA was not related to either fluid or crystallized abilities. Our results add to the previous literature by providing the first sensor-based evidence that crystallized and fluid abilities in older age may be associated with engagement in different intensities of daily activity. Moreover, our findings suggest that the behavior of moderate to vigorous PA is at least as important in relation to cognition as the desirable long-term physiological effects of higher intensity PA and exercise. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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传感器测量的久坐和体力活动与衰老过程中的液体和结晶能力有不同的相关性。


众所周知，有氧运动和体力活动 (PA) 有益于成年期的认知能力。然而，典型的老年人一天中的大部分时间都在久坐或轻度体力活动中度过，这些行为通常很难通过问卷调查来捕获。为了更好地了解不同强度的生活方式 PA 所花费的时间与认知之间的关联，我们使用髋部佩戴的传感器（ActiGraph 加速度计）测量了每天在久坐、轻度和中度至剧烈 PA 中花费的平均时间。我们研究了参加临床试验（临床研究标识符：NCT01472744）的 228 名认知正常成年人（年龄 60-80 岁）的基线数据。使用弗吉尼亚认知老化电池评估流体能力（处理速度、记忆力和推理能力）和结晶能力（词汇知识）。调整年龄、性别以及一些可改变的社会经济、身体和功能健康因素后，每天进行中度至剧烈体力活动的时间与液体能力（感知速度和推理）呈正相关。此外，我们发现那些花更多时间久坐的人在词汇知识和推理任务上表现更好。相比之下，在轻度 PA 中花费的时间与流体或结晶能力无关。我们的研究结果补充了之前的文献，提供了第一个基于传感器的证据，证明老年人的结晶能力和流动能力可能与不同强度的日常活动有关。此外，我们的研究结果表明，中度至剧烈的体力活动对于认知​​的影响至少与高强度体力活动和运动的理想长期生理效应一样重要。 （PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2020 APA，保留所有权利）。