View clinical trials related to Healthy Aging.
Filter by:Until now, neuropsychological interventions aimed to optimize cognitive function and to have functional impact in individuals at risk of AD (MCI patients) were scarce in validity studies. While some RCTs have been developed in cognitive training interventions, comparative studies of merged interventions (cognitive, social and behavioral stimulation) with adequate control groups are absent, diminishing the professionals' trust on the adoption of these interventions for supporting patients. As such, the present proposal will develop a validation trial testing a multicomponent neuropsychological intervention (REMINDER), based on personal development, cognitive compensatory aids, meaningful goals setting, and behavior change techniques. The investigators will analyze its short/long-term gains and AD conversion rates. By aiming to provide a good validation study for REMINDER, the investigators will examine neurobiological, neurocognitive and functional outcomes of this intervention in comparison with an active control group (psychoeducation) in order to foster an effective outcome assessment of an intervention for individuals at risk of AD.
This study seeks to understand what factors influence the capacity to perform simultaneous motor and cognitive tasks in older adults to improve movement throughout their community with the least risk of injury. To function in the real world, one needs to "walk and talk", or to move about the community while attending to their environment. Navigating a busy environment becomes increasingly difficult due to the multitude of constraints placed on the organism by both the brain and the body that are associated with aging. Resulting lack of movement causes a downward spiral; further decreasing function and increasing risk of co-morbidities. This will impose an enormous cost on our healthcare system as the elderly population continues to grow in the United States. The investigators aim to investigate both cognitive and movement changes during aging to prevent declines in functional mobility. The investigators will do this through eight weeks training of simultaneous cognitive and motor tasks (cognitive-motor training).
The present study aims at analyzing the dose-response effects of a recreational team handball-based exercise programme on cardiovascular, metabolic, musculoskeletal and physical fitness markers of inactive middle-aged and older men, without previous experience with the sport. The researchers hypothesized a positive weekly training frequency effect on health and physical fitness outcomes.
Fall is a common problem encountered by elderlies. In Hong Kong, the prevalence rate of falls among elderlies aged above 65 years old ranged from 18%-29%, standing at approximately one-fifths of the total elderly population. Falls pose huge threats to the physical and psychosocial health of the elderlies as they are often accompanied by serious injuries such as bone fracture and post-fall syndrome, decreased confidence in walking, and social exclusion. Otago Exercise Program (OEP) was a tailor-made home-based fall prevention program of community-dwelling elderlies. It comprises of 3 main components: 5 lower limb strengthening, 12 balance retraining and walking exercises. Regarding on its effectiveness, multiple studies revealed that OEP and modified version of OEP (mOEP) brought significant improvements on perceived, static and dynamic balance, lower limb strength, quality of life and functional capacity of healthy elderlies and those with various health conditions such as chronic illnesses, osteoarthritis, stroke and hemiplegia. The delivery method of OEP and mOEP has been limited to have elderlies following the instructions and illustrations of a printed booklet. Currently, there are only two proposed effective forms of mOEP: video-instructed and Exergames. Our study attempts to establish a new home-based exercise option incorporating mOEP with video, music and lyrics. It helps to increase the exercise motivation of elderlies, hence their physical performance.
Home-based and individually designed exercise program; It consists of warming up, strengthening, balance exercises and walking plan. The number, intensity and duration of the movements are personalized according to preference and ability and are progressed gradually. Elderly individuals are expected to do this set of exercises three times a week and walk for 30 minutes twice a week. Since the Otago Exercise Programme includes combined exercises, the outputs of the effectiveness of the program will be different. For this purpose, the effect of otago exercises on fear of falling, balance, strengthening and functional mobility will be determined in the elderly living in nursing homes.
Aging is linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Physical exercise is recognized as an excellent strategy to prevent cardiovascular diseases and cognitive aspects, generating healthier elderly people. The beneficial effects of physical training seem to be greater when performed: - In hypoxic conditions (i.e. when the amount of oxygen in the air is decreased as at altitude). - With intermittent blood flow restriction (by inflating pneumatic cuffs around the thighs to a pressure that restricts blood flow). This equipment is harmless. - With eccentric training (resisting against the movement of the pedal of a bicycle rather than pushing it). The purpose of this study is then to evaluate whether moderate intensity intermittent training can induce similar or greater effects on cardiovascular health when combined with intermittent hypoxia, intermittent blood flow restriction or eccentric training.
The investigator has shown that improved cardiorespiratory fitness following an aerobic exercise program elicits cognitive benefit in elderly subjects and memory improvement in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The physiological mechanism may be related to exercise-mediated change in circulating factors that permeate the brain. The response to each individual bout of exercise (i.e. the acute exercise response) may differ between subjects and be key to driving brain benefit. In young populations, the acute response to exercise can last hours and affect brain glucose metabolism. However, the field knows little about this acute exercise response in AD. Most exercise intervention trials designed to prevent and slow AD, including our own (AG033673; AG034614; AG043962; AG049749; AG053952), assess biomarkers at two fasting time points: pre- and post-intervention. The acute exercise response in the brain and periphery likely varies between subjects and diagnoses and provide key information regarding mechanisms of benefit. Our primary goals are to characterize the acute exercise response to exercise in the brain (glucose metabolism) and periphery (biomarker response) in aging and AD. The investigator will identify relationships between exercise-related factors (i.e. heart rate, biomarkers) and change in brain metabolism and cognition. Understanding these mechanistic relationships will provide specific targets that can be used in future trials to develop individualized exercise prescriptions and maximize benefit. Accumulating evidence suggests that the exercise-related metabolite lactate is an understudied effector of brain health. Lactate is an essential fuel for neuronal function. It is supplied to neurons through glucose metabolism in nearby glia and from peripheral blood, since the brain is permeable to lactate. A drop in cerebral glucose metabolism is a marker of AD. Thus, supplying neurons directly with lactate for oxidation may supplement energy requirements in AD, as has been suggested with ketones. Importantly, circulating lactate levels rise during exercise. Repeated increases in systemic lactate (acute exercise response) may transiently spare glucose by providing an alternative fuel. With routine exercise, acute responses may elicit adaptations that facilitate the use of lactate beyond that which occurs during acute exercise and contribute to brain benefits observed during chronic exercise interventions. In younger populations, higher exercise intensity evokes a greater lactate response compared to lower intensities and elicits cognitive benefit. The investigator will achieve these goals through the following aim: Aim 1. Examine differences in lactate metabolism between diagnosis groups and the effect of lactate on cognitive performance. Increased blood lactate can reflect increased production or decreased uptake. This has never been compared in ND and AD. The investigator will use a "lactate clamp" procedure, where lactate is infused to concentrations that match those found during exercise, to characterize lactate turnover. The investigator will characterize cognitive performance following lactate infusion, independent of exercise factors. The investigators hypothesize that ND subjects (n=12) will use lactate more efficiently (greater uptake) than AD individuals (n=12). The investigator further hypothesize that cognitive performance will acutely improve after lactate infusion in ND and AD subjects. The overall goal is to characterize lactate metabolism, and its relationships with cognition. The KU ADC is a recognized leader in the study of exercise and metabolism in aged and AD populations, and puts the investigator in a strong position to successfully achieve these aims.
This study is being conducted to investigate risk factors for disability progression in Multiple Sclerosis and related disorders (MSRD). The primary goal is to assess whether combining information from visual assessment, blood markers, as well as historical and ongoing longitudinal MRIs of the brain, orbit (the part of the skull where eyes are located), and/or spinal cord can predict changes in quantitative disability measures related to MSRD and neurological disease.
Objectives: The primary objective of the proposed project is to develop and evaluate a Community Dance Program (CDP) for community-dwelling older adults, which is aimed at promoting physical strength, balance, cognition, mental and psycho-social well-being of the older adults. A distinctive feature of our project is that a team of researchers across disciplines and community partners will collaborate to develop the program and bring benefits to the older adults living in the community.
The full experiment involves participants coming into the lab on five separate occasions for neuropsychological testing, a decision making battery, functional and structural MRI, and two TMS sessions for stimulation of the target or control stimulation site. The clinical trial component concerns only the last two sessions where subjects will be randomly assigned to different groups to receive different TMS interventions. In particular, the TMS experiments will ask two main questions: 1. What is the causal role of frontal pole in explore-exploit behavior in younger and older adults? 2. What is the causal role of IFG in explore-exploit behavior in younger and older adults? The investigators will use continuous theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (cTBS, Huang et al. 2005) to inhibit neural activity in each region for approximately 50 minutes (Wischnewski & Schutter, 2015) and measure the downstream effects on behavior in younger and older adults. Consistent with their respective roles in the explore-exploit circuit (Figure 5 in Research Strategy), the investigators predict that inhibition of frontal pole will lead to a selective reduction in directed, but not random, exploration, while inhibition of IFG will decrease exploitation and lead to increases in both types of exploration. Participants in each age group will be pseudo-randomly assigned to either the frontal pole group or IFG group such that the study will have 42 participants (21 males, 21 females) in each group. Thus there will be four distinct groups of subjects older frontal pole, younger frontal pole, older IFG, younger IFG. Each participant will take part in two TMS sessions, one target and one control session. The order of sessions will be counterbalanced across subjects. The primary endpoints of the study are to determine whether: 1. cTBS applied to frontal pole inhibits directed exploration within the younger and older groups 2. cTBS applied to IFG promotes both directed and random exploration within the younger and older groups The study is powered to answer these questions with 80% power at a threshold of p < 0.05.