Exercise duration for cognitive health in breast cancer survivors

Many breast cancer survivors report deficits in cognitive functioning. Physical activity (PA) has been associated with better processing speed and memory and may prove a useful behavioral modality for improving cognition in breast cancer survivors. The purpose of the present study was to examine the differential duration effects of acute bouts of PA on executive function and processing speed in breast cancer survivors. Breast cancer survivors (N=48, M age=56.02) completed two sessions in counterbalanced order: moderate-intensity treadmill walking and seated rest. Participants were also randomized to one of three time groups: 10 (n=15), 20 (n=16), or 30 (n=17) minutes, signifying the length of time spent walking and resting. Immediately before and after each session, women completed a battery of cognitive tasks. Within- and between-subjects repeated measures analyses of variance revealed several moderately-sized and meaningful three-way (e.g., time by activity by group) interactions. On the flanker task, women were significantly less accurate over time in the resting activity compared with the exercise activity in the 20-minute group (d = .75). On single task blocks of the task switching paradigm, women performed significant slower after resting compared with after exercising in both the 10- (d = -.96) and 30-minute (d = -.52) groups. On the processing speed task, women performed significantly faster after exercising compared with after resting in the 20-minute group (d = -.24). Upon collapsing the sample for nonsignificant three-way interactions, two significant time by activity interactions emerged. Specifically, women performed significantly faster on the 2-item Spatial Working Memory task (d = -.21) and more accurately on the 3-item Spatial Working Memory task (d = .18) after exercise compared with after rest. Notably, these effects were irrespective of time spent exercising and resting. While the optimal length of exercise for providing short-lived cognitive benefits remains unclear, this study offers some initial preliminary evidence for maintained and improved cognitive function after a bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise compared with seated rest in breast cancer survivors.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Kinesiology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2017

Author dc:creator

• Awick, Elizabeth A.

Contributors dc:contributor

• McAuley, Edward
• Kramer, Arthur F.
• Hillman, Charles
• Trinh, Linda

• Breast cancer
• Physical activity
• Acute exercise
• Cognitive function

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2017 Elizabeth Awick

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/97558

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F97558