The Effect of Physical Activity on the Brain

June 18, 2012 updated by: University Hospital Muenster

Clinical Study on the Effect of Physical Activity on Cognition and Memory in the Elderly

Physical activity is thought to increase overall body functions and to decrease cardiovascular and stroke risk factors. Now the question arose, wether enhanced exercise could also exert positive influence on cognition in the aging brain. Therefore, 50 to 80 years old healthy subjects take part in a prospective study with regular sports activity during 6 months. Cognitive functions are detected with sensitive neuropsychological outcome measures, further investigations include MRT of the head, lactat- and other physical measures as well as detailed serum profiles. As a hypothesis, enhanced physical activity is suggested to predict better cognitive performance.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

120

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Germany
    • NRW
      • Muenster, NRW, Germany, 48149
        • University Hospital of Muenster

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

50 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 50-80 years old
  • healthy
  • lesser activity

Exclusion Criteria:

  • regular physical activity
  • diabetes
  • stroke
  • heavy smoking, drinking,
  • BMI < 20
  • MMSE < 25

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Aerobic Exercise
Behavioral: exercise
Experimental: Anaerobic Exercise
Behavioral: exercise
No Intervention: Unchanged condition

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change of reaction times in ms in a motor learning task after 6 months of intervention/control condition
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Change of delayed memory scores in #of words in a Verbal learning task after 6 months of intervention/control condition
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Change of performance in ms in a reaction time task after 6 months of intervention/control condition
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Change of relative regional grey matter volumes in % measured by T1-weighted MRI after 6 months of intervention/control condition
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change of physical measurements (ECG)/fitness assessments (lactate) after 6 months of intervention/control condition
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Change of BDNF blood serum levels in ng/dl after 6 months of intervention/control condition
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University Hospital Muenster

Collaborators

German Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Agnes Flooel, MD, University Hospital of Muenster
  • Study Director: Stefan Knecht, MD, University Hospital of Muenster

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

March 1, 2006

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2012

Study Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 7, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 16, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

November 21, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 19, 2012

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 18, 2012

Last Verified

June 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Exercise_Neuromod

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Aerobic Exercise

Clinical Trials on exercise

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Congo, DR of

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe