JAMA internal medicine
-
JAMA internal medicine · May 2013
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyThe Mental Activity and eXercise (MAX) trial: a randomized controlled trial to enhance cognitive function in older adults.
The prevalence of cognitive impairment and dementia are projected to rise dramatically during the next 40 years, and strategies for maintaining cognitive function with age are critically needed. Physical or mental activity alone result in relatively small, domain-specific improvements in cognitive function in older adults; combined interventions may have more global effects. ⋯ In inactive older adults with cognitive complaints, 12 weeks of physical plus mental activity was associated with significant improvements in global cognitive function with no evidence of difference between intervention and active control groups. These findings may reflect practice effects or may suggest that the amount of activity is more important than the type in this subject population.