Cybercycling. A new study shows it may help reduce the onset of dementia and might be the best reason to buy your parents (or perhaps yourself) a new Wii Fit.

Cybercycling Gives Seniors a Brain Boost

By Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: January 16, 2012 Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.

Virtual reality exercise games, like the Wii Fit, may help older adults fight cognitive decline, researchers found. Seniors who played a racing game by pedaling a stationary bike saw a significant boost in overall executive function on cognitive testing compared with stationary bike use alone (P=0.002), in a clinical trial by Cay Anderson-Hanley, PhD, of Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., and colleagues. "Cybercycling" for three months in the trial reduced risk of clinical progression to mild cognitive impairment by a relative 23%, the group reported in the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. "Our findings give us hope that there can be an impact on improved brain health for older adults by this kind of synergistic mental and physical exercise," Anderson-Hanley told MedPage Today. "The other thing is it's a lot of fun." Participants in the trial often said they enjoyed exercise when playing the virtual reality game, she noted in an interview, which she suggested could help seniors start up and stick to a regimen. "If more people in later life were to embrace regular physical exercise, such as this 'exergaming' type of exercise, that there would be a significant benefit across the community," Anderson-Hanley said. Delaying the onset of dementia by even one year could cut the projected U.S. prevalence from 8 million down to 7 million in 2050, she explained. While virtual reality exercise games have proliferated for Nintendo's Wii and other consoles for the gym and home, not all may provide the same benefits, Anderson-Hanley cautioned. "It's hard to know yet whether we can generalize our findings to other forms of exergaming that have more intermittent activity, like tennis or golf," she told MedPage Today. Her study used cycling because it continuously elevates heart rate. It included 102 older adults at eight independent-living retirement facilities who were randomized to stationary recumbent bike use an average three times a week for three months with the virtual reality game monitor either turned on or off. Playing the game while cycling had a large effect on change in cognitive scores on the Color Trails Difference, Stroop C, and Digits Backwards tests (P=0.002 for time by treatment interaction together). Cybercyclists improved their performance on the Color Trails Difference (P=0.01) and Stroop C (P=0.05) tests over baseline, whereas traditional cyclists showed no change. The intervention group also maintained their Digits Backwards test performance over the three-month period, whereas the controls' performance declined (P=0.01). The average improvement in cognitive performance with cybercycling was one-half a standard deviation over and above traditional exercise, the researchers noted. During the study, three of the game participants and nine of those doing cycling alone developed mild cognitive impairment diagnosed clinically, for a 23% reduced risk with the intervention. The groups didn't differ in frequency, duration, or intensity of exercise, with both expending about 100 calories on average during a session. The only difference between groups was the virtual reality experience, Anderson-Hanley's group pointed out. "Navigating a 3D landscape, anticipating turns, and competing with others requires additional focus, expanded divided attention, and enhanced decision making," they wrote in the paper. "These are activities that depend in part on executive function, which was significantly affected." The group noted the relatively high level of education and low diversity of their study population, making further study necessary to determine generalizability, though the intervention should be widely applicable. Other limitations included unequal education and age between the groups, though controlled for in the results. The study was funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, through the Health Games Research national program, and by faculty and student grants from Union and Skidmore Colleges. The researchers reported having no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Primary source: American Journal of Preventive Medicine Source reference: Anderson-Hanley C, et al "Exergaming and older adult cognition: A cluster randomized clinical trial" Am J Prev Med 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2011.10.016.