Effects of a Brief Stair-Climbing Intervention on Cognitive Functioning and Mood States in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Despite an abundance of evidence that exercise benefits cognition and mood, physical activity levels among older adults remain low, with time and inaccessibility posing major barriers. Interval stair climbing is an accessible time-efficient form of physical activity demonstrated to benefit cognition and mood in young adults, but effectiveness in older adults remains unknown. To address this, 28 older adults (Mage = 69.78 years, 16 females) undertook cognitive and mood assessments twice, 1 week apart, once preceded by interval stair climbing. A fairly large, albeit only marginally significant, effect size () indicated improved cognition following the moderate- to high-intensity intervention; however, rather than improving mood, older adults reported feeling more tired (g = 0.51). These outcomes provide initial indications that this mode of exercise that can easily translate to naturalistic settings offers promise as an intervention strategy, but more research is needed to optimize the protocol to suit aged populations (ACTRN1261900169014).

High intensity and sprint interval training, and work‐related cognitive function in adults: A systematic review

“…21 Most studies (20 or 56%) were multiple group (2-4) randomized controlled and/or comparative trials 21,24,25,27,33,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50]52 ; the remaining studies used a single group cross-over trial design. [17][18][19][20]22,23,25,30,32,[34][35][36]51 Study participants (N = 11 28 -945 52 ) were men and women with a mean age ranging from 19 41,46 to 78 52 years. Eight studies assessed participants with specific conditions, or in special populations; these included overweight and/or obese adults, 26,42,45 athletes, 28,36 pre 38 and post 44 menopausal women, and female cancer survivors.…”

“…For acute training studies, the mean score was 6.9 (SD = 1.0; range = 5-8) from a possible 9 points, indicating the overall evidence base to be of "fair-to-good" quality. Twelve studies (60%) were classified as "good" (7-9 points), 17,18,20,[22][23][24][25][26]28,30,33,34 with eight studies classified as "fair" quality (5 or 6 poi nts). 19,21,27,29,31,32,35,36 The overall evidence base was also of "fair-to-good quality" for chronic training studies (mean score = 9.8; SD = 1.6; range = 7-12 from a possible 14 points).…”

“…| 15 with the frequency and duration of HIIT ranging from 10× 1-min 17 to 6× 3-min bouts, 19 with 1-4 min of active recovery; one of these studies used 3× 3-min boxing rounds, interspersed with 1 min breaks, 28 while another used 6× 1 min intervals of stair climbing with 1 min of recovery. 25 Six acute training studies utilized "all-out effort" SIT protocols, consisting of 20-m sprints, 18 stationary cycling 20,22 or 4-to-15 circuit exercises lasting 20 s each. 29,32,34 Nine chronic training studies used cycle erogometer or treadmill HIIT protocols, 37,38,[41][42][43][44][45][46]49 and two studies a HIIT circuit.…”

“…Twelve (from 20 [60%]) acute training studies evidenced significant improvements in cognitive function for participants doing HIIT 17,21,25,26,28,31,34,35 or SIT. 18,20,22,33 Four acute training studies indicated cognitive performance was better for HIIT than for low-intensity stretching 17,33 and/or MICT, 31,33,34 with nine studies showing improved performance for HIIT 18,21,25,26,28,34,35 or SIT 20,22 relative to rest. Six (from 16 [38%]) chronic training studies indicated significant improvements for HIIT compared with a "no exercise" group, 38,40,51 or MICT/low-intensity stretching, 43 and for SIT participants relative to MICT, 47,48 and resistance training.…”

Evolutionary Cognitive Enhancement: Reawakening Adaptive Cognitive-Emotional-Motor Systems

“…Acute exercise has been found in several studies to promote prefrontal activation and enhance cognitive control functions including working memory (Pontifex et al, 2009;Tsujii et al, 2013) and inhibitory control (Benzing et al, 2018;Yanagisawa et al, 2010). Moreover, acute-exercise research has highlighted the immediate cognitive benefits of PA in real-life environments (e.g., short bouts of stair climbing: Nasrollahi et al, 2021;Stenling et al, 2019). Further, several studies have shown that mental and physical wellness is enhanced when PA is paired with exposure to nature (Fitzgerald & Danner, 2012;Gladwell et al, 2013;Marquez et al, 2020;Nisbet et al, 2011;Pretty et al, 2005;Rogerson et al, 2020;Tsao et al, 2022).…”