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Abstract
Objective: Aging is associated with decline in executive function that may lead to reduced dual-task perfor-
mance. Regular exercise has been recommended for promoting or maintaining mental and physical health in
older adults, yet only a fraction of older adults exercise regularly. Exergame training may have the potential to
enhance exercise adherence. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of exergame-based
dual-task training on executive function and dual-task performance in community-dwelling older adults.
Materials and Methods: This was a single-blinded, randomized-controlled trial. Twenty community-dwelling
older adults were recruited and randomly assigned to one of two groups. All participants completed 36
trainings, including three 60-minute sessions/week over 12 weeks. Participants in the experimental group
received exergame-based dual-task training, while those in the control group received home-based multi-
component exercise training. Measures of executive function, dual-task performance, and community walking
ability were assessed before and after the intervention.
Results: Significant group · time interactions (P = 0.000–0.027) with large effects were found in all selected
outcome measures. Compared with the control group, the experimental group improved significantly in mea-
sures of general executive function (P = 0.014), inhibitory control (P = 0.037), cognitive dual-task performance
(P < 0.001), and community walking ability (P = 0.002). Enhanced general executive function was highly
correlated with either improved motor dual-task performance (r = 0.674) or improved cognitive dual-task
performance (r = -0.701).
Conclusion: These results suggested that exergame-based dual-task training improved both executive function
and dual-task performance in older people. These positive effects could be transferred to enhance community
walking ability. Clinical Trial Registration number: ACTRN 12617000095369.
Keywords: aging, cognitive function, community mobility, dual task, exercise intervention, exergame
1
Department of Physical Therapy and Assistive Technology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
2
Department of Physical Therapy and Assistive Technology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
3
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chiayi Christian Hospital, Chiayi City, Taiwan.
4
Department of Neurology, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
5
Preventive Medicine Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
i
ORCID ID (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1548-3511).
1
2 WANG ET AL.
need to perform more than one task at a time. The inability to Materials and Methods
perform several tasks simultaneously would negatively af- Participants
fect the performance of activities of daily living. In fact,
decreased dual-task performance was associated with in- Participants were recruited from local communities in
creased fall risk in community-dwelling older adults.6 Taipei, Taiwan. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1)
Moreover, alterations in dual-task performance can be de- community-dwelling older adults, (2) age q65 years old, (3)
tected early in neurodegenerative conditions, including able to walk independently for 10 m without any assistive
Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, as well as in device, (4) a score of mini-mental state examination q24,
mild cognitive impairment.7–9 Thus, finding ways to improve and (5) educational level q6 years or ability to read the
executive function and dual-task performance may contrib- Chinese characters. Exclusion criteria were as follows: (1)
ute to reduce aging-related mental and physical decline. diagnosed with any neurologic and cardiopulmonary disor-
Several previous meta-analyses have demonstrated the ders, (2) any musculoskeletal problems that would preclude
positive effects of exercise on executive function in older exercise training, and (3) a diagnosis of hand movement
people.10–13 The earlier meta-analysis by Colcombe and disorders, dysgraphia, agraphia, color blindness, or color
Kramer reported that the overall effect obtained was mod- vision deficiency.
erate.10 However, three other meta-analyses indicated that
older adults engaged in exercise training exhibited small Study design and procedure
effect on executive function.11–13 The modalities of exercise
This study was a single-blinded (assessor-blinded),
in these previous meta-analyses included aerobic exercise,
randomized-controlled trial. The study protocol was ap-
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group and time were tested again using the independent t test No significant between-group differences were found for
and paired t test, respectively. Change scores were calculated demographics and gender- and health-related data. More-
by subtracting preintervention data from postintervention over, there were no significant between-group differences in
data. Pearson’s test was used to analyze the correlation be- any of the preintervention outcome measures (Table 3). All
tween change in executive function and change in dual-task participants in the current study had 100% of attendance
performance. The statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. rates in their 36 exercise sessions. None of the participants
The current study reported partial g2 as an index of effect reported any adverse events.
size. The criteria for judging the estimated effect size are as Table 3 shows all results of the two-way analysis of var-
follows: a large effect size was q0.14, a medium effect size iance. The results showed significant time effects and
was 0.06 to 0.13, and a small effect size was 0.01 to 0.05.29 time · group interaction effects for all examined variables
(P = 0.000–0.027). Post hoc within-group comparisons re-
Results
vealed significant improvements in the EXIT25 (P = 0.025)
A total number of 85 participants from local communities and community walk test (P = 0.048) in the control group and
were screened and 20 enrolled in the present study. Ten significant improvements in all the examined variables in the
participants were randomized and assigned to the experiment experimental group (P = 0.000–0.004). Post hoc between-
group and 10 to the control group. The progress through the group comparisons showed significant differences in the
phases of enrollment, intervention allocation, and data EXIT25 (P = 0.014), both conditions of the SCWT (con-
analysis is represented in Figure 2. Table 2 presents an gruous: P = 0.041; incongruous: P = 0.037), cognitive dual-
overview of the demographic characteristics of participants. task test (P < 0.001), and community walk test (P = 0.002).
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0.823
0.284
0.411
0.243
0.658
0.603
0.661
0.497
Table 2. Baseline Characteristics by Study Group
ES
Time · group
Control Experimental
group group
Variables (n = 10) (n = 10) P
<0.001
0.016
0.002
0.027
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
0.001
P
Age (years) 73.50 – 5.66 71.30 – 5.33 0.383
Gender (male/female) 4/6 3/7 0.639
Body height (cm) 157.20 – 6.73 157.30 – 7.47 0.975
Body weight (kg) 62.60 – 8.04 61.50 – 7.76 0.759
0.892
0.406
0.599
0.477
0.684
0.671
0.774
0.681
Body mass index 25.41 – 3.61 24.87 – 2.89 0.718
ES
(kg/m2)
Time effect
Mini-mental state 28.80 – 1.14 28.90 – 0.99 0.836
Table 3. Executive Function and Dual-Task Performance with Two-Way Analysis of Variance
examination
Education (years) 9.80 – 3.77 10.80 – 3.26 0.533
<0.001
0.003
<0.001
0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
No. of chronic 0.90 – 0.74 0.60 – 0.84 0.408
P
diseases
Data are presented as the mean – standard deviation or n.
291.95 – 27.81***,{{
0.84 – 0.16***,{{{
Postintervention
,{
94.40 – 15.05**,{
37.90 – 8.67***,{
52.50 – 15.79***
Table 4 shows correlations between change in executive
3.30 – 1.42***
29.20 – 12.97**
10.15 – 2.79***
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38.80 – 14.74
70.10 – 19.32
83.80 – 13.90
319.50 – 28.16
r = 0.455; incongruous: r = 0.519) were also observed.
8.20 – 2.15
31.10 – 8.69
14.62 – 3.48
0.56 – 0.17
Discussion
*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001 show a significant difference versus preintervention.
The two main findings of the present study were as
P < 0.05, {{P < 0.01, and {{{P < 0.001 show a significant difference versus control group.
follows: first, that exergame-based dual-task training sig-
nificantly improved executive function and dual-task per-
formance in older adults; and second, that improvement in
Postintervention
331.55 – 20.26*
5.90 – 2.69*
41.50 – 13.75
71.30 – 26.21
79.10 – 16.02
executive function and dual-task performance can translate 30.10 – 6.71
12.74 – 3.10
0.53 – 0.16
Values are mean – standard deviation. Effect size was calculated as partial g2.
into improved community walking ability. These findings are
Control group (n = 10)
42.80 – 16.95
74.60 – 30.33
76.40 – 20.05
336.80 – 21.17
6.60 – 2.50
29.90 – 6.98
13.07 – 2.87
0.49 – 0.13
adherence.
The training program used in the current study was designed
Stroop Color and Word Test
Incongruous (n)
Trail Making Test
Table 4. Correlation (R) Between Change program might trigger the beneficial effects on the measured
in Executive Function and Change in Dual-Task executive functions and processing speed.
Performance (n = 20) Our previous results showed moderate-to-high correla-
tions between improved executive function and improved
Motor dual-task Cognitive dual
(seconds) task (n/s) dual-task performance.28 In line with our previous finding,
the current study showed similar results. This is not sur-
Variables r P r P prising since executive function is closely related to dual-
task performance.43,44 Nevertheless, gains in dual-task
EXIT25 0.674 0.001 -0.701 0.001 performance were lowly correlated with gains in information
Trail Making Test processing speed. Processing speed is a cognitive function
Part A (seconds) 0.174 0.462 -0.373 0.105
Part B (seconds) 0.629 0.003 -0.641 0.002 related to process information quickly and accurately.
A previous study suggested that poorer processing speed,
Stroop Color and Word Test short-term memory, and sustained attention were the major
Congruous (n) -0.471 0.036 0.455 0.044
Incongruous (n) -0.681 0.001 0.519 0.019 cognitive contributors to slower dual-task walking.44 An-
other study demonstrated that processing speed measured by
the digit symbol task was associated with dual-task step and
stride regularity, whereas processing speed measured by
effects on executive function.14–18 Consistently, the current TMT-A emerged independently of the dual-task walking.45
study demonstrated that the exergame-based dual-task training The great heterogeneity of the use of dual-tasks and tests to
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showed a larger improvement in executive function compared evaluate processing speed makes the comparison of the re-
with home-based multicomponent exercise training. This sults very difficult. The observations presented herein are
result showed a large effect size with a significance for that executive function contributed to dual tasks. However,
the time · group interaction between exergame-based dual- the relationship between processing speed and dual task re-
task training versus home-based multicomponent exercise mains uncertain.
training (Table 3). Executive function is mainly processed The results from the current study expanded our under-
in a frontal/cingulate/parietal/subcortical cognitive control standing of the influence of dual-task training on participa-
network.31 Neuroimaging evidence revealed that dual-task tion in community activities in older adults. It is important to
training improved the efficiency of neural circuitry and the consider whether performance gains can be transferred to
synapse communication in the brain network in older everyday tasks. Our results demonstrated that gains from
adults.15,32,33 This, in turn, could positively influence the executive function and dual-task performance transferred to
movement execution. community walking ability. Wollesen and Voelcker-Rehage
Furthermore, the exergame-based dual-task training re- as well as Varela-Vásquez et al. supposed that variable task
sulted in a higher improvement in inhibitory control (mea- prioritization training might help to promote transfer.19,20 In
sured by the SCWT) compared with the home-based addition, the transferability of trained tasks to those that are
multicomponent exercise training. A previous study also not would more likely occur when the tasks involve related
indicated that dual-task training improved inhibitory per- demands requiring similar skills.20,46 Our intervention took a
formance in older adults.16 The inhibitory control is the flexible prioritization or resource allocation that is one of the
ability to inhibit automated responses, which is a dimension advantages to reveal transfer effect. Also, our training
of executive function, and contributes to anticipation, plan- combined walking with motor or cognitive tasks that re-
ning, and goal setting.34 The inhibitory control may have quired participants to actively modify their step while si-
relevance to the ability to cope with more than one task at a multaneously responding to a variety of tasks. The trained
time.35,36 The results of this study showed that there were skills are similar to those in community walking. Therefore,
moderate correlations between change in inhibitory control this kind of intervention may lead to transfer to community
and change in dual-task performance (Table 4). These find- mobility.
ings support that dual-task training has the potential to in- Some limitations of the present study must be mentioned.
duce cognitive plasticity in older adulthood, thus preserving First, a passive control group might have helped to exclude
the efficiency of supervisory brain areas in which inhibitory the potential test/retest effects in explaining changes in
control is involved and then enhancing the execution of dual- outcome measures. Second, no follow-up measurement was
task or multitask.37,38 performed to ascertain maintenance of effects after exercise
Apart from inhibitory control, TMT-A and TMT-B were cessation. Last, it remains to be determined whether the
used to assess the information processing speed and shifting, training effects can be obtained with other older populations
respectively, in the current study. Participants in the exper- such as prefrail or frail older adults.
imental group had significant improvements in both infor-
mation processing speed and shifting. Previous studies also
Conclusion
reported that dual-task training led to improved information
processing speed and shifting.17,39 By contrast, some studies The current study demonstrated that in community-
did not exhibit improvements in information processing dwelling older adults, exergame-based dual-task training has
speed and shifting.40,41 A previous study indicated that dif- a more positive impact on executive function and dual-task
ferent types of videogames may have positive effects on the performance than home-based multicomponent exercise
specific cognitive aspect.42 The videogames used in the training. The exergame-based dual-task training showed a
current study included cues that trained speed of information significant improvement in inhibitory control and shifting as
processing, switching, and inhibition. Therefore, our training well as cognitive and motor dual-task performance. Notably,
EFFECTS OF EXERGAME IN OLDER ADULTS 7
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