Publications by authors named "Cay Anderson-Hanley"

Facing an unrelenting rise in dementia cases worldwide, researchers are exploring non-pharmacological ways to ameliorate cognitive decline in later life. Twenty older adults completed assessments before and after a single bout of interactive physical and cognitive exercise, by playing a neuro-exergame that required pedaling and steering to control progress in a tablet-based video game tailored to impact executive function (the interactive Physical and Cognitive Exercise System; iPACES v2). This study explored the cognitive and biomarker outcomes for participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and normative older adults after 20 min of pedal-to-play exercise.

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Background: Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs) are being diagnosed at epidemic rates, with incidence to triple from 35 to 115 million cases worldwide. Most ADRDs are characterized by progressive neurodegeneration, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. The ideal moment for diagnosing ADRDs is during the earliest stages of its progression; however, current diagnostic methods are inefficient, expensive, and unsuccessful at making diagnoses during the earliest stages of the disease.

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Background: Alzheimer's and related dementias are on the rise, and older adults and their families are seeking accessible and effective ways to stave off or ameliorate mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Aim: This pilot clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: 03069391) examined neuropsychological and neurobiological outcomes of interactive physical and mental exercise.

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Given increasing longevity worldwide, older adults and caregivers are seeking ways to curb cognitive decline especially for those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI, now mild neurocognitive disorder, mNCD, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed. (DSM-V). This quasi-experimental, within-subjects pilot clinical trial was designed to replicate and extend the study of cognitive benefits for MCI by improving upon our prior interactive Physical and Cognitive Exercise Study (iPACES v1.

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Prior research has found that cognitive benefits of physical exercise and brain health in older adults may be enhanced when mental exercise is interactive simultaneously, as in exergaming. It is unclear whether the cognitive benefit can be maximized by increasing the degree of mental challenge during exercise. This randomized clinical trial (RCT), the Aerobic and Cognitive Exercise Study (ACES) sought to replicate and extend prior findings of added cognitive benefit from exergaming to those with or at risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

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Background: Physical exercise has been shown to improve cognitive and neural functioning in older adults.

Aims And Methods: The current study compared the effects of an acute bout of physical exercise with a bout of interactive mental and physical exercise (i.e.

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Dementia cases are on the rise and researchers seek innovative ways to prevent or ameliorate cognitive impairment in later life. Some research has reported that combining mental and physical exercise may benefit cognition more than either alone. This randomized pilot trial examined the feasibility and cognitive benefit for older adults (n = 30) of a single bout of neuro-exergaming (physical activity with cognitive training) using an interactive physical and cognitive exercise system (iPACES), compared with that of exergaming or neurogaming alone.

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Dementia cases are increasing worldwide; thus, investigators seek to identify interventions that might prevent or ameliorate cognitive decline in later life. Extensive research confirms the benefits of physical exercise for brain health, yet only a fraction of older adults exercise regularly. Interactive mental and physical exercise, as in aerobic exergaming, not only motivates, but has also been found to yield cognitive benefit above and beyond traditional exercise.

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The rise in dementia and the evidence of cognitive benefits of exercise for the older adult population together make salient the research into variables affecting cognitive benefit and exercise behavior. One promising avenue for increasing exercise participation has been the introduction of exergaming, a type of exercise that works in combination with virtual reality to enhance both the exercise experience and health outcomes. Past research has revealed that executive function (EF) was related to greater use of self-regulatory strategies, which in turn was related to greater adherence to exercise following an intervention (McAuley et al.

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The Fuld Object-Memory Evaluation (FOME) uses multisensory (tactile, visual, and verbal) encoding of objects for assessing memory, with particular clinical and research application in older adults. This preliminary study reports the first known psychometric data on the development of an alternate form of the FOME. Data were drawn from 102 independent-living older adults participating in a larger clinical trial.

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Objective: This quasi-experimental exploratory study investigated neuropsychological effects of exercise among older adults with diabetes mellitus (DM) compared with adults without diabetes (non-DM), and it examined the feasibility of using a stationary bike exergame as a form of exercise for older adults with and without diabetes. It is a secondary analysis that uses a small dataset from a larger randomized clinical trial (RCT) called the Cybercycle Study, which compared cognitive and physiological effects of traditional stationary cycling versus cybercycling.

Methods: In the RCT and the secondary analysis, older adults living in eight independent living retirement facilities in the state of New York were enrolled in the study and assigned to exercise five times per week for 45 min per session (two times per week was considered acceptable for retention in the study) by using a stationary bicycle over the course of 3 months.

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Grounded in social facilitation theory, this study compared the impact on exercise intensity of a virtual versus a live competitor, when riding a virtual reality-enhanced stationary bike ("cybercycle"). It was hypothesized that competitiveness would moderate effects. Twenty-three female college students were exposed to three conditions on a cybercycle: solo training, virtual competitor, and live competitor.

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Background: Dementia cases may reach 100 million by 2050. Interventions are sought to curb or prevent cognitive decline. Exercise yields cognitive benefits, but few older adults exercise.

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Research demonstrates a positive effect of aerobic exercise on cognitive functioning in older adults. Unfortunately, aerobic exercise is often contraindicated for older adults due to cardiovascular and functional limitations. Low-intensity strengthening exercise may offer a practical alternative, but the neuropsychological benefits and potential neurophysiological mechanisms are less well understood.

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Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that leads to impairment in social skills and delay in language development, and results in repetitive behaviors and restricted interests that impede academic and social involvement. Physical exercise has been shown to decrease repetitive behaviors in autistic children and improve cognitive function across the life-span. Exergaming combines physical and mental exercise simultaneously by linking physical activity movements to video game control and may yield better compliance with exercise.

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This study examined the effect of virtual social facilitation and competitiveness on exercise effort in exergaming older adults. Fourteen exergaming older adults participated. Competitiveness was assessed prior to the start of exercise.

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While aerobic exercise has been linked to improved performance on cognitive tasks of executive functioning among older adults, not all older adults can avail themselves of such exercise due to physical limitations. In this study, community-dwelling older adults were evaluated on tasks of executive functioning before and after a month-long strengthening, nonaerobic exercise program. A total of 16 participants who engaged in such exercise showed significantly improved scores on Digits Backward and Stroop C tasks when compared to 16 participants who were on an exercise waiting list.

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The development of the Responses to Stress Questionnaire-cancer version (RSQ-CV) to assess coping with and responses to the stress of breast cancer is described. The RSQ-CV was completed by 232 women with breast cancer near the time of their diagnosis. Confirmatory factor analyses verified a model that includes three voluntary coping factors (primary control engagement coping, secondary control engagement coping, disengagement coping) and two involuntary stress response factors (involuntary engagement, involuntary disengagement).

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Objective: This study aimed to clarify which older adults benefit most from a control-enhancing intervention; in particular, whether cognitive functioning or locus of control might moderate the benefit derived.

Methods: Nursing home residents were randomly assigned to two conditions: (1) a control-enhanced condition that provided the option of caring for a plant (n=10), and (2) a comparison condition that monitored any change under the standard of care (n=10). Comparison group participants were subsequently offered the intervention, which led to a total of 17 intervention participants.

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Forty-three women newly diagnosed with breast cancer participated in this study, which examined the role of expressive journal writing characteristics on mood over the course of a 12-week support group. Writing was analyzed using the linguistic inquiry and word count program. Writing characteristics that were examined included: average word count, number of journal entries, positive and negative emotion words, the ratio of positive to negative words, and the use of cognitive mechanism words (i.

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A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate possible neuropsychological effects of treatments for cancer in adults. A search revealed 30 studies, encompassing 29 eligible samples, and leading to inclusion of a total of 838 patients and control participants. A total of 173 effect sizes (Cohen's d) were extracted across 7 cognitive domains and as assessed in the literature via 3 methods of comparison (post-treatment compared with normative data, controls, or baseline performance).

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