Dynamic Associations of Change in Physical Activity and Change in Cognitive Function : Coordinated Analyses of Four Longitudinal Studies

Abstract EN

The present study used a coordinated analyses approach to examine the association of physical activity and cognitive change in four longitudinal studies.

A series of multilevel growth models with physical activity included both as a fixed (between-person) and time-varying (within-person) predictor of four domains of cognitive function (reasoning, memory, fluency, and semantic knowledge) was used.

Baseline physical activity predicted fluency, reasoning and memory in two studies.

However, there was a consistent pattern of positive relationships between time-specific changes in physical activity and time-specific changes in cognition, controlling for expected linear trajectories over time, across all four studies.

This pattern was most evident for the domains of reasoning and fluency.