ArticleAging clinical and experimental research2021
Physical fitness mediates the association between age and cognition in healthy adults.
Article in Aging clinical and experimental research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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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
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Table Tennis as a Sustainable Health Intervention: A Meta-Analysis of Its Effects on Balance and Cognitive Functions.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiometabolic health are associated with distinct cognitive domains in cognitively healthy older adults.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Longitudinal association of change in physical activity and cognitive performance in midlife women: Study of women's health across the nation.Preventive medicine · 2025Article
- Lifestyle Matters: Effects of Habitual Physical Activity on Driving Skills in Older Age.Brain sciences · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPhysical fitness is an important contributor to healthy aging that improves cognition. Older adults who engage in cardiorespiratory fitness activities show less cognitive decline.
aimsTo examine whether physical fitness acts as a potential protective mechanism shielding against the negative associations between age and cognition. Specifically, we examined whether physical fitness mediates the relationship between age and processing speed.
methods114 (M = 63.80, SD = 10.63) senior executives completed a computerized cognitive battery composed of four processing speed tasks. Level of physical fitness was assessed on a treadmill stress test and reported in metabolic equivalents (METs).
resultsOlder age was associated with slower processing speed (r = 0.25, p = 0.007), whereas greater physical fitness was associated with faster processing speed (r = -0.30, p = 0.001). Path analysis indicated that the association between age and processing speed was fully mediated by the level of physical fitness (Indirect effect: β = 0.10, p = 0.008; Direct effect: β = 0.16, p = 0.20). CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION: The findings indicate that physical fitness is a strong mediator of the relationship between age and processing speed and imply that physical fitness makes a major contribution to cognitive reserve during the aging process. The results may suggest that the decrease in physical fitness during aging may partially account for slower cognitive processing.
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Registered trials
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