Brain Gym® Exercises for Institutionalized Elderly People With Cognitive Impairment

University of Vigo

Status: Completed

Conditions: Physical Activity; Cognition Disorders in Old Age

Treatments: Behavioral: Brain Gym Exercises; Behavioral: Standard exercise program for institutionalized older adults.

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03368482

2-2402-16

Details and patient eligibility

About

Scientific evidence regarding the effects of Brain Gym®, on people with cognitive impairment is scarce. This study aimed at comparing the effects of a program based on Brain Gym® exercises against a fitness exercise program on the cognitive function, functional independence, physical fitness and quality of life in institutionalized older adults with cognitive impairment.

Full description

Cognitive training and physical exercise have been regarded as useful strategies in order to improve the cognitive function in older people with cognitive impairment. In this regard, it has been argued that while physical exercise improves the metabolic activity of the brain, the performance of cognitively demanding tasks increases the amount of dendritic branches and the level of synaptic plasticity, implying that the combination of both therapies may result in synergistic effects that positively influence various cognitive domains in different ways. One of the best known therapies which combines mental and physical training is Brain Gym® (BG), a movement-based program originally designed to improve learning capabilities through the performance of mind-body exercises. Brain Gym® can be considered as an interesting field of research due to the need of identifying novel therapies which might be more pleasant for older adults who tend not to be prone to participating in conventional exercise programs and might have a positive effect on their cognitive function. In spite of this, scientific evidence regarding the effects of BG on people with cognitive impairment is scarce and none of the studies compared the potential benefits of BG versus traditional exercise programs for this population. Moreover, to the authors' knowledge no study of this kind has been published so far. Under these circumstances, the present study aims at identifying the potential benefits of performing BG exercises on the cognitive function, functional independence, physical fitness, and quality of life of institutionalized older people with cognitive impairment, as well as at finding out whether the effects are more significant than those produced by a traditional exercise program.

Enrollment: 50 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 65+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Older than 65 years old.
• Mean score ≤ 24 in the Spanish adapted version of the Mini-Mental State Examination.
• Cognitive and co-operative ability to follow simple instructions.

Exclusion criteria

• Individuals whose medical condition hindered or prevented their full and complete participation in the evaluation tests.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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50 participants in 2 patient groups

Brain Gym Exercises

Experimental group

Description:

Brain Gym® (BG) is a movement-based program originally designed to improve learning capabilities through the performance of mind-body exercises. BG can be considered as an interesting field of research due to the need of identifying novel therapies which might be more pleasant for older adults who tend not to be prone to participating in conventional exercise programs and might have a positive effect on their cognitive function. In spite of this, scientific evidence regarding the effects of BG on people with cognitive impairment is scarce.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Brain Gym Exercises

Standard Exercises

Active Comparator group

Description:

A traditional physical exercise program designed for institutionalized elderly people aimed at increasing their range of mobility and coordination, specifically focused on the lower limbs.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Standard exercise program for institutionalized older adults.