Mean (SE) walk, chair-stand, and arm curl exercise performance as a function of group (BET, Exercise, Control), test (pre-, mid-, post-, follow-up) and state (before Stroop, after Stroop). T tests: B = different from BET group, E = different from Exercise group. Credit: Psychology of Sport and Exercise (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2024.102757

Brain endurance training (BET), a combined cognitive and exercise training method developed for athletes, boosts cognitive and physical abilities in older adults.

According to a new study by researchers at the Universities of Birmingham, UK, and Extremadura, Spain, brain endurance training (BET) can improve attention and executive function (cognition), as well as physical endurance and resistance exercise performance. BET is a combined exercise and cognitive training method that was originally developed to increase endurance among elite athletes.

The research has implications for healthy aging. Previous studies have shown that mental fatigue can impair both cognitive and physical performance, including poorer balance control, leading to increased risk of falls and accidents. This study, published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise, is the first to examine the benefits of BET for both cognitive and physical performance in older adults.

Corresponding author Professor Chris Ring said, “We have shown that BET could be an effective intervention to improve cognitive and physical performance in older adults, even when fatigued. This could have significant implications for improving health span in this population, including reducing the risk of falls and accidents.”

In the experiment, 24 healthy sedentary women aged between 65-78 were allocated to one of three training groups: brain endurance training (BET), exercise training, and no training (control group). The first two groups each completed three 45-minute exercise sessions per week over a period of eight weeks. Each session included 20 minutes of resistance training and 25 minutes of endurance training. While the exercise sessions were the same for each of these groups, the BET group also completed a 20-minute cognitive task prior to exercising.

All three groups completed a series of cognitive (reaction time and color-matching tests) and physical tests (walk, chair-stand and arm-curl tests) to assess performance at the start and end of the study. Participants in the BET group outperformed the exercise-only group in the cognitive tasks, with a 7.8% increase in cognitive performance after exercise, compared to a 4.5% increase in the exercise-only group. In terms of physical performance, the BET group achieved a 29.9% improvement, compared to 22.4% for the exercise-only group.

“BET is an effective countermeasure against mental fatigue and its detrimental effects on performance in older adults,” added Professor Ring. “While we still need to extend our research to include larger sample sizes including both men and women, these promising initial findings show we should do more to encourage older people to engage in BET to improve brain and body activities.”