Key result
Combined cognitive and physical training may enhance cognition more than either modality alone.
Why the study?
Does combined cognitive and physical training improve cognition in healthy older adults compared to cognitive or physical training alone?
Systematic Review
Does combined cognitive and physical training improve cognition in healthy older adults compared to cognitive or physical training alone?
Combining cognitive and physical training may be a more effective non-pharmacological strategy for maintaining cognitive health in older adults than single modalities, though further optimized trial designs are needed.
May support combined training for cognitive maintenance in healthy older adults; leaves open superiority pending more direct-comparison trials.
This review presents a critical examination of current knowledge of the impact of combined cognitive and physical training on cognition in healthy elderly subjects. The objectives are to evaluate the contribution of cognitive and physical training to the enhancement of cognition, and to determine the interest of combining these two training types in one intervention in terms of the benefits for cognition (direct and transfer), long-term maintenance, and transfer to daily living. To do so, a systematic electronic search was conducted in PubMed and Google Scholar. Exclusion criteria were animal and pathological aging studies. We focused on the shared and different behavioral impacts of these two types of training on cognition, as well as their functional and structural impact on the brain. The review indicates that both cognitive and physical training have an impact on cognition and on the brain. However, each type of training seems to preferentially enhance different cognitive functions and specifically impact both brain structure and function. Even though some results argue in favor of a complementarity between cognitive and physical training and the superiority of combined cognitive and physical training, the current state of knowledge does not permit any definitive conclusion. Thus, the present review indicates the need for additional investigations.
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Joubert et al. (2018) conducted a systematic review in Healthy older adults. Combined cognitive and physical training vs. Cognitive training alone, physical training alone, or no intervention was evaluated on Enhancement of cognition (direct, transfer, and long-term maintenance). Combined cognitive and physical training may yield greater cognitive benefits than single training modalities alone, though current evidence is limited by the small number of direct comparison studies.
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