ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2021
Physical Activity in Early- and Mid-Adulthood Are Independently Associated With Longitudinal Memory Trajectories in Later Life.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Midlife physical activity and late-life subjective cognitive complaints in women.The Gerontologist · 2026Article
- How Life-Course Trajectories of Physical Activity Track With Cognitive Decline.Journal of physical activity & health · 2026Article
- Association of the cumulative modified life's Essential 8 score with cognitive change: Results from two longitudinal cohorts.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2026Article
- Influence of mental health and physical activity on memory complaints in older adults: results from the HUNT study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Does type or diversity of activities delay aging-related cognitive decline?Innovation in aging · 2026Article
- Physical Activity Over the Adult Life Course and Risk of Dementia in the Framingham Heart Study.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Cardiovascular disease as a mediator in the relationship between lifestyle risk factors and cognitive outcomes: a scoping review.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Long-term cumulative physical activity associated with less cognitive decline: Evidence from a 16-year cohort study.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2025Article
- Combinations of light, moderate, and vigorous physical activity in midlife and old age: implications for healthy cognitive aging.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2025Article
- Impact of physical fitness and lifelong education on mild cognitive impairment in older adults.Physical activity and nutrition · 2024Article
- Comparison of low-dose maximal-intent versus controlled-tempo resistance training on quality-of-life, functional capacity, and strength in untrained healthy adults: a comparative effectiveness study.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Life course engagement in enriching activities: When and how does it matter for cognitive aging?Psychology and aging · 2023Article
- Relationships of Residential Distance to Major Traffic Roads with Dementia Incidence and Brain Structure Measures: Mediation Role of Air Pollution.Health data science · 2023Article
- Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Relationship Between Neighborhood Environment and Physical Activity Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults.Journal of aging and health · 2022Article
- Article
- Sense of Purpose in Life and Markers of Hearing Function: Replicated Associations across Two Longitudinal Cohorts.Gerontology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPhysical activity (PA) in later life may reduce dementia risk, but little is known regarding long-term cognitive effects of PA that occurred earlier in adulthood or mechanisms underlying associations. PA patterns at different ages may independently contribute to dementia risk, which would implicate multiple critical periods for intervention. The current study tested whether retrospective reports of PA in early and mid-adulthood were independently associated with later-life longitudinal memory outcomes and whether associations were mediated by late-life cardiometabolic diseases.
methodParticipants comprised 5200 Health and Retirement Study Life History Mail Survey respondents. Latent growth curves estimated independent associations between retrospectively reported PA in early adulthood (age 18-29) and mid-adulthood (age 40-49) and 16-year episodic memory trajectories. Indirect pathways involving the maintenance of PA from early- to mid-adulthood and the influence of PA on later-life cardiometabolic diseases (hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease) were also estimated.
resultsPA in early- and mid-adulthood independently predicted higher initial memory level and slower memory decline in later life, respectively. Early-adulthood PA was indirectly associated with later-life memory level through higher mid-adulthood PA and lower rates of later-life hypertension, as well as with subsequent memory decline through higher mid-adulthood PA.
conclusionsThe current findings highlight the importance of PA throughout adulthood, such that initiating and/or maintaining exercise in early- or mid-adulthood may be protective for later-life cognitive health, and hypertension appears to represent a key mediator of these effects.
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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 OpenQuestion graph.