The effects of cognitive and physical training on cognitive performance

Abstract

Objective: To provide a brief overview of the literature evaluating the individual and combined effects of cognitive and physical (exercise) training on cognitive function. Design and Methods: An overview review approach was employed. Results: Cognitive and physical training, and their combination, can improve various cognitive outcomes (e.g., memory) in several adult populations (e.g., healthy older adults, older adults with mild cognitive impairment). These effects, however , are influenced by several factors, such as the setting in which the training occurs (e.g., supervised or home-based), the type of combined training (e.g., physical-cognitive, motor-cognitive, multi-domain), and the type of comparison/con-trol group utilized. Conclusions: Combining cognitive and physical exercise together in a training program may yield improvements in cogni-tive function. Throughout life, people are faced with many challenging tasks (e.g., remembering past information, remembering to execute an intention in the future, inhibiting goal-irrelevant information) that require complex cognitive processes. Thus, identification of ways to optimize and preserve cognitive function is of critical importance. The study of cognition is vast, including investigations focused on how cognition is influenced from intrapersonal, interpersonal, and social/environmental factors. The present paper, written as a brief overview, 1 takes a focused approach in evaluating the individual and combined effects of two specific intrapersonal-related factors on cognitive function. 2 Specifically, this overview evaluates the individual and combined effects of cognitive training and physical exercise (training) on cognitive performance. Of specific interest is whether these two types of training (cognitive and physical) have an additive effect on cognition that is greater than their individual effects.