Open- and Closed-Skill Exercise Interventions Produce Different Neurocognitive Effects on Executive Functions in the Elderly: A 6-Month Randomized, Controlled Trial.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Randomized controlled trial
PubMed 28959200 · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2017.00294
What was done
Sixty-four healthy elderly males were randomized to 6 months of closed-skill exercise (cycling or brisk walking/jogging, n = 22), open-skill exercise (table tennis, n = 21), or a control group (n = 21). At baseline and after 6 months, participants performed a task-switching paradigm and an N-back task while reaction times, accuracy rates, and electrophysiological event-related potential (ERP) P3 amplitudes across frontal-to-parietal regions were measured.
What was found
The abstract reports statistical significance and effect directions without numerical point estimates or confidence intervals. Relative to controls, both exercise groups showed significantly faster reaction times (RTs) on switch trials in the task-switching paradigm and increased accuracy rates (ARs) in the 1-back task. RT improvements across both non-switch and switch trials post-intervention emerged only in the open-skill group, whereas AR improvements in the 2-back task occurred only in the closed-skill group. Both exercise groups exhibited significantly larger frontal-to-parietal P3 amplitudes relative to baseline across both tasks, which persisted after controlling for cardiorespiratory fitness, social participation, and BMI.
Why it matters
This study suggests that while exercise broadly enhances neuroelectric indices of attentional resource allocation in aging, the specific cognitive benefits may depend on motor demands—open-skill sports favoring cognitive flexibility and closed-skill exercise favoring working memory maintenance.
Limits
The sample size was small (n = 64) and restricted exclusively to healthy elderly males, limiting generalizability to women and clinical populations. The abstract does not provide exact numerical values, standard deviations, or effect sizes, and it does not describe the specific activities or engagement level of the control group.
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