Resumo

SCHAEFFER, Evelin Lisete et al. Assessment of mnestic and attentional functions in a sample of healthy elderly engaged in regular physical activity. Psicol. hosp. (São Paulo) [online]. 2011, vol.9, n.1, pp.97-115. ISSN 2175-3547.

Several studies have shown that the cognitive impairment associated with aging may be positively compensated by physical exercise. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of healthy elderly subjects engaged in regular physical activity on measures of episodic memory and attention, compared with sedentary control subjects matched for age and education. For this, 14 subjects between 60 and 85 years old and between 12 and 18 years of education were assessed through a battery of neuropsychological tests, a test of general cognition and a scale of anxiety and depression, besides a semi-directed interview. Subjects engaged in physical activity showed significantly better performance on a measure of verbal episodic memory (immediate recall) compared with sedentary subjects (n=7 per group, p=0.004). This result is in agreement with previous findings showing a positive effect of physical activity on cognitive functioning in healthy elderly subjects.

Palavras-chave : Memory; Attention; Pysical activity; Ederly.

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