The Effects of High-Intensity Aerobic Exercise on Cognitive Performance After Stroke: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background: Aerobic exercise is an effective treatment to improve aerobic capacity following stroke and might also improve cognitive impairments in sub-acute stroke survivors. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of high-intensity aerobic exercise on cognitive impairments in sub-acute stroke survivors. Methods: A pilot, randomised controlled trial on the effects of aerobic exercise on cognitive impairments of stroke patients in the sub-acute (1-3 months) phase was conducted. Thirty patients with moderate cognitive impairments (maximum score of 5 on at least two items on the cognitive subscales of the Functional Independence Measure [FIM]) were included in the study and randomly assigned to either the intervention group – performing high-intensity aerobic exercise (above 70% of maximum heart rate), or the control group – performing low-intensity aerobic exercise (below 60%). Patients in both groups exercised for 50 min twice a week for 4 weeks. Primary neuropsychological outcome: Trail Making Test B. Results: Thirty stroke patients completed the interventions. The results showed that the high-intensity group, compared with the low-intensity group, achieved significant improvements on Trail Making Test B, which assesses processing speed and divided attention ( P = .04 after training and P = .01 at follow-up). However, the significant improvements on Trail Making Test B might relate to a ceiling effect in the control group. Conclusions: This study does not provide evidence to support that aerobic exercise can improve cognition in stroke survivors, even though significant improvement was revealed on the primary outcome in sub-acute stroke survivors following high-intensity aerobic exercise compared with low-intensity general exercise.

Effect of High Intensity Interval Training Compared to Continuous Training on Cognitive Performance in Young Healthy Adults: A Pilot Study

“…These findings support our second hypothesis that greater improvements in executive functioning will result from HIIT compared to MICE. The results of our study confirm certain results from the literature in children [35], adolescents [33], young adults [37], or the elderly who are healthy [34] or have had a stroke [36]. In addition, our results on the trail making task are consistent with those reported by Pallesen et al who reported an effect of intermittent high intensity training only on the Trail B and not on the Trail A [36].…”

“…Although these results are encouraging, there is no clear evidence that HIIT has a superior effect on cognitive function compared to MICE [16]. Recently, original studies have provided more responses with null [31,32] or positive results [33][34][35][36][37] in animal and human studies. Among the studies that achieved positive results, they only compared HIIT to active controls, and as such, the effects of exercise intensity per se were not examined.…”

Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Cognitive Function and Affected Arm Function in Individuals with Ischemic Stroke

“…Mūsų tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad pagėrėja tiriamųjų dėmesys ir kognityvinis lankstumas, bet darbinė atmintis lieka nepaveikta. Ankstesniu tyrimu nustatyta, kad taikant didesnį nei 70% intensyvumo aerobinį krūvį 4 savaites po 50 minučių per dieną pagerėja ne tik dėmesys, bet ir darbinė atmintis (Pallesen et al, 2019). Taigi mūsų tyrimo metu tiriamųjų darbinė atmintis galėjo nepagerėti dėl per mažos aerobinių pratimų taikymo trukmės ir per mažo krūvio intensyvumo.…”

High-Intensity Interval Training Improves Cognitive Flexibility in Older Adults

“…These previous findings provide some rationale to test the hypothesis that HIIT may provide an optimal strategy to enhance cognitive function in older adults. Recently, animal and human studies have provided findings with either null [24,25] or positive effects of HIIT on cognition [26][27][28][29][30][31]. Furthermore, Kovacevic et al [27] found that 12 weeks of HIIT had a greater impact on cognitive function (e.g., working memory) than moderate-intensity continuous exercise in older adults.…”