Does acute aerobic exercise enhance selective attention, working memory, and problem-solving abilities in Alzheimer's patients? A sex-based comparative study

Ines Ben Ayed; Achraf Ammar; Chirine Aouichaoui; Nourhen Mezghani; Atef Salem; Salma Naija; Sana Ben Amor; Khaled Trabelsi; Haitham Jahrami; Yassine Trabelsi; Farid El Massioui

doi:10.3389/fspor.2024.1383119

Does acute aerobic exercise enhance selective attention, working memory, and problem-solving abilities in Alzheimer's patients? A sex-based comparative study

Front Sports Act Living. 2024 Jun 6:6:1383119. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1383119. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Ines Ben Ayed^{1

2

3}, Achraf Ammar^#^{4

5

6}, Chirine Aouichaoui^#^{1

7}, Nourhen Mezghani⁸, Atef Salem^{4

6}, Salma Naija⁹, Sana Ben Amor⁹, Khaled Trabelsi^{3

6}, Haitham Jahrami¹⁰, Yassine Trabelsi¹, Farid El Massioui²

Affiliations

¹ Research Laboratory, Exercise Physiology and Physiopathology: from Integrated to Molecular "Biology, Medicine and Health", LR19ES09, Faculty of Medicine of Sousse, Sousse University, Sousse, Tunisia.
² Laboratory of Human and Artificial Cognition (EA 4004), Psychology UFR, University of Vincennes/Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, France.
³ Research Laboratory, Education, Motricity, Sport and Health (EM2S), LR15JS01, High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
⁴ Department of Training and Movement Science, Institute of Sport Science, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
⁵ Research Laboratory, Molecular Bases of Human Pathology, LR19ES13, Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
⁶ High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
⁷ High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar Saïd, University of Manouba, Cité Nasr, Tunisia.
⁸ Department of Sport Sciences, College of Education, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Neurology Department, University Hospital Sahloul Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia.
¹⁰ College of Medicine and Medical Science, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Introduction: The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of acute aerobic exercise on certain cognitive functions known to be affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD), with a particular emphasis on sex differences.

Methods: A total of 53 patients, with a mean age of 70.54 ± 0.88 years and moderate AD, voluntarily participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: the experimental group (EG), which participated in a 20-min moderate-intensity cycling session (60% of the individual maximum target heart rate recorded at the end of the 6-min walk test); and the control group (CG), which participated in a 20-min reading activity. Cognitive abilities were assessed before and after the physical exercise or reading session using the Stroop test for selective attention, the forward and backward digit span test for working memory, and the Tower of Hanoi task for problem-solving abilities.

Results: At baseline, both groups had comparable cognitive performance (p > 0.05 in all tests). Regardless of sex, aerobic acute exercise improved attention in the Stroop test (p < 0.001), enhanced memory performance in both forward (p < 0.001) and backward (p < 0.001) conditions, and reduced the time required to solve the problem in the Tower of Hanoi task (p < 0.001). No significant differences were observed in the number of movements. In contrast, the CG did not significantly improve after the reading session for any of the cognitive tasks (p > 0.05). Consequently, the EG recorded greater performance improvements than the CG in most cognitive tasks tested (p < 0.0001) after the intervention session.

Discussion: These findings demonstrate that, irrespective to sex, a single aerobic exercise session on an ergocycle can improve cognitive function in patients with moderate AD. The results suggest that acute aerobic exercise enhances cognitive function similarly in both female and male patients, indicating promising directions for inclusive therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; aerobic physical exercise; attention; memory; problem-solving; sex.

Grants and funding

The authors declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.