Playing golf or doing 6 km of Nordic walking or traditional walking helps improve the immediate cognitive function of older people.
- Playing an 18-hole round of golf or doing 6 km of Nordic walking or traditional walking can improve immediate cognitive function in older adults, according to a new study.
- These three activities boost, among other things, attention skills and information processing speed.
- Both types of walking also improve executive functions. That is to say the set of cognitive skills allowing you to act in an organized manner to achieve an objective or solve a problem.
Cognitive abilities tend to decline with age. However, physical exercise can help combat this phenomenon linked to aging. Three specific activities are particularly effective in improving the immediate cognitive function of older adults, according to a study by researchers of University of Eastern Finland, University of Edinburgh And ETH Zurich published in BMJ Open Sports & Exercise Medicine. These are golf, Nordic walking and walking.
Cognitive abilities: focus on golf, walking and walking Nordic
To assess the cognitive effects of different types of exercise, the international team asked 25 healthy golfers aged 65 and older to participate in three different activities: do an 18-hole golf course, a 6 km Nordic walk and a 6 km traditional walking session. The scientists also assessed the cognitive functions of the participants using different tests before and after each activity.
Analysis of the results showed that a single session of one of the three exercises improved lower cognitive functions like attention and processing speed. On the other hand, executive cognitive functions more demanding – such as task switching ability (ability to transfer attention from one thing to another) – were, for their part, boosted only by Nordic walking and traditional walking sessions.
Physical activity helps fight cognitive decline
“These findings highlight the value of age-appropriate aerobic exercise, such as golf, Nordic walking and walking, for maintaining and improving cognitive function in older adults”explains Julia Kettinenfirst author of the study and a sports medicine researcher at the Institute of Biomedicine at the University of Eastern Finland, in a communicated. The expert also recalls that “Previous research has shown that physical activity also holds promise as a potential strategy for those experiencing cognitive decline.”
