Cybercycling for Cognitive Health

Union College, New York63 enrolled

Overview

Exercise has been linked to cognitive health, but few older adults exercise at recommended levels. Cybercycling may provide additional cognitive benefits due to increased motivation to ride the interactive 3D tours. Participants will be randomly assigned to three months of either cybercycling or traditional stationary biking; and they will complete comprehensive evaluations before and after exercise. Older adults are expected to show significant neuropsychological, physiological and behavioral gains.

The purpose of this study is to test the following hypotheses: (1) stationary cycling with virtual reality tours ("cybercyle") will enhance executive function and clinical status more than traditional exercise; (2) exercise effort will explain improvement; and (3) brain-derived neurotrophic growth factor (BDNF) will increase.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Cognitive Ability, General

Interventions

CybercyclingBEHAVIORAL

exercising on a videogame-enhanced interactive 3D stationary bicycle for 3 months, 3-5x/wk

Traditional exerciseBEHAVIORAL

exercising on a traditional stationary bike for 3 months, 3-5x/wk

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 50 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * age 50+ * able to participate in cycling * physician permission Exclusion Criteria: * unstable heart condition * physician denial * neurological condition

Locations (8)

Beltrone Living Center

Colonie, New York, United States

Highpointe Apartments

Malta, New York, United States

Glen Eddy

Niskayuna, New York, United States

Prestwick Chase

Saratoga Springs, New York, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in cognitive function after three months of exercise.

Cognitive function, especially executive function, will be assessed before and after three months of either cybercycling or traditional exercise biking. Neuropsychological tests will assess: cognitive flexibility and simultaneous processing(i.e., Stroop, Digits Backwards, and Trails Difference Score).

Time frame: 3 months

Secondary Outcomes

Weight

Weight and other physiological factors will be assessed before and after 3 months of exercise.

Time frame: 3 months

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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