The Effects of Physical Activity on the Working Memory of Senior Citizens

• Main Authors: Tsai, Chiu-Chen, 蔡秋珍
• Other Authors: Ke, Tian-Lu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/21847628207197777814

碩士 === 臺北市立大學 === 運動教育研究所碩士在職專班 === 103 === Today, human life expectancy is becoming increasingly extended, yet prolonged age is accompanied by the gradual degradation of cognitive abilities, causing significantly negative effects on societal functions. As such, maintaining seniors’ health and prolonging the process of aging and the degradation of their cognitive functions have become recent hot topics of research. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between seniors’ physical exercise level and their working memory, based on data collected from 78 working seniors above 55 years of age. Following a convenience sampling procedure, the subjects’ weekly physical exercise levels were measured through the “metabolic equivalent” method (METs), and their working memory capacity was measured using Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM) to analyze the correlation between physical activities and working memory. According to the results, engaging in physical activities can reduce the speed at which seniors’ working memory capacity deteriorates, but only if activities are routinely performed and maintained at a certain level will there be an observable and significant difference in results. In conclusion, there is correlation between seniors’ physical activities level and their high-order cognitive abilities; however, there is no apparent correlation between physical activities and general cognitive functions. Additionally, this study recognized that subjects with educational backgrounds below high school level displayed larger variation in lifestyle and occupations, consequently exhibiting greater deviations in sampling. Thus, it is recommended that future research take into consideration the subjects’ lifestyle and career pathways, i.e. reducing the variation in subjects, eliminating those with below university level educational backgrounds, to control the experiment more thoroughly.