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Aerobic exercise to improve cognitive function in older people without known cognitive impairment
Young J, Angevaren M, Rusted J, Tabet N.. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2015-04-22
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Also, we performed analyses including only trials in which an increase in the cardiovascular fitness of participants had been demonstrated. Main results Twelve trials including 754 participants met our inclusion criteria. Analysing only the subgroup of trials in which cardiorespiratory fitness improved in the aerobic exercise group showed that this improvement did not coincide with improvements in any cognitive domains assessed. Our subgroup analyses of aerobic exercise versus flexibility or balance interventions also showed no benefit of aerobic exercise in any cognitive domain.Dropout rates did not differ between aerobic exercise and control groups. No trial reported on adverse effects.Overall none of our analyses showed a cognitive benefit from aerobic exercise even when the intervention was shown to lead to improved cardiorespiratory fitness. Authors' conclusions We found no evidence in the available data from RCTs that aerobic physical activities, including those which successfully improve cardiorespiratory fitness, have any cognitive benefit in cognitively healthy older adults.
Key findings
- Also, we performed analyses including only trials in which an increase in the cardiovascular fitness of participants had been demonstrated.
- Main results Twelve trials including 754 participants met our inclusion criteria.
- Analysing only the subgroup of trials in which cardiorespiratory fitness improved in the aerobic exercise group showed that this improvement did not coincide with improvements in any cognitive domains assessed.
- Our subgroup analyses of aerobic exercise versus flexibility or balance interventions also showed no benefit of aerobic exercise in any cognitive domain.Dropout rates did not differ between aerobic exercise and control groups.
- No trial reported on adverse effects.Overall none of our analyses showed a cognitive benefit from aerobic exercise even when the intervention was shown to lead to improved cardiorespiratory fitness.
Why it matters
This review of twelve randomized trials found no cognitive benefit from aerobic exercise in cognitively healthy older adults, even in trials where cardiorespiratory fitness improved. The authors concluded there is no evidence from the available data that aerobic physical activity improves cognition in this group.
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Study details
- Participants754
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 74/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a meta-analysis pooling many studies. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (The Cochrane database of systematic reviews) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: journal h-index 468 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A meta-analysis pooling many studies (from PubMed type “Meta-Analysis”) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2015 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 754 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 502 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 38.6 citations a year over 13 year(s) since 2015 |
| Impact for its field and year | 6 / 6 | Cited 42.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 14 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 67 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Naji Tabet: h-index 37 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Sussex: institution h-index 734 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 25900537) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 74 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1002/14651858.cd005381.pub4
- PubMed: 25900537
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Young, J., Angevaren, M., Rusted, J., & Tabet, N. (2015). Aerobic exercise to improve cognitive function in older people without known cognitive impairment. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd005381.pub4
Vancouver
Young J, Angevaren M, Rusted J, Tabet N. Aerobic exercise to improve cognitive function in older people without known cognitive impairment. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. 2015. doi:10.1002/14651858.cd005381.pub4. PMID: 25900537.
BibTeX
@article{young2015-25900537,
author = {Young, J. and Angevaren, M. and Rusted, J. and Tabet, N.},
title = {{Aerobic exercise to improve cognitive function in older people without known cognitive impairment}},
journal = {The Cochrane database of systematic reviews},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1002/14651858.cd005381.pub4},
pmid = {25900537},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd005381.pub4}
}
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