Honors Theses
Date of Award
2015
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Communication Sciences and Disorders
First Advisor
Toshikazu Ikuta
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Studies have shown that exercise can have positive affects on cognition levels in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. A meta-analysis was conducted to see if exercise had an effect on attention or working memory in patients with Alzheimer's disease. A search was conducted through PubMed. From the initial search, 87 articles were found. Of these 87 articles, 2 met the criteria for analysis along with 1 additional article found from an additional source. These 3 articles were studied and a meta-analysis was performed. The Stroop Test was used to study attention scores and the Digit Span Test Backward test was used to study working memory scores. The analysis showed a decline in working memory with exercise. A slight improvement was seen in attention scores, but the results were statistically insignificant. The decline in WM might be more closely associated to the progression of the disease in participants, rather than the effect of exercise on working memory of patients. More studies should be conducted in order to further investigate these results.
Recommended Citation
Drakos, Alexandria, "Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Exercise Effects on Attention and Working Memory in Alzheimer's Disease" (2015). Honors Theses. 31.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/31
Accessibility Status
Searchable text