Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the transitional stage between healthy aging and dementia, marked by subtle changes in thinking abilities (cognitive function) and daily functioning. Traditional cognitive assessments often fail to detect these subtle changes. Intraindividual variability (IIV), is an up and coming measure of cognitive function, that may help detect these subtle changes. Higher IIV has shown to be linked with increased falls, poorer attention, and increased dementia risk. Cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength are known protective factors against cognitive decline. Some studies suggest that better cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with lower IIV, whereas the evidence for muscle strength is unknown. Therefore, we examined the association between IIV, cardiorespiratory fitness, and muscle strength in older adults with MCI. We used tasks assessing thinking abilities to measure IIV, the 400m walk to assess cardiorespiratory fitness, and hand grip strength and lower body strength. Our findings showed that lower IIV (that is, less fluctuations in thinking abilities) was associated with better cardiorespiratory fitness as well as muscle strength. These findings emphasize the importance of physical fitness in maintaining one's thinking abilities. Additional research is needed to understand if physical activity interventions can improve IIV, and thus prevent cognitive decline.