Protective Effects of Physical Activity on Episodic Memory During Aging Are Explained by Executive Functioning

Aging is marked by a memory decline related to an executive function decline. Physical activity (PA) has beneficial effects on both executive functions and memory, especially in aging. The protective effects of PA on these two cognitive abilities have always been studied separately, despite the well-established relationship between memory and executive functions. Our objective was to explore whether the benefits of PA on memory could be explained by reduced age-related changes in executive functions. Nineteen young adults (27.16 years old) and 25 older adults (69.64 years old) performed a resource-dependent memory task, three executive tasks and completed a PA questionnaire (measuring sports and leisure PA). Age group and PA effects on memory and executive performance were analyzed with generalized linear models. Mediation analyses were calculated using method of causal steps approach with a non-parametric bootstrapping procedure. The results confirmed the effects of age and PA on memory and executive performance. A significant interaction confirmed the protective effect of PA on age-related cognitive performance. PA was positively correlated with performance in both memory and executive tasks, but only in the older adults. Although each predictor alone (age, executive functions and PA) significantly explained memory performance in older adults, only the effect of PA on memory performance remained significant when all the predictors were introduced in the analyses. PA mediates the effects of age and executive functions on memory performance. This suggests that PA protects older adults against memory decline by reducing the decline in executive functioning.