Added mental tasks did not boost motor gains in older adults
In an eight-week trial of 55 older adults, physical training improved motor capacities, but adding mental tasks provided no extra benefit over exercise alone.
Controlled
Limit: The sample was limited to 55 older adults
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Fifty-five older adults took part in an eight-week quasi-randomized parallel controlled trial evaluating simultaneous motor and mental training. Forty participants were partially randomized into one of two motor-cognitive groups, while 15 joined a control group doing motor training alone, which included strength, balance, and walking exercises. In the combined groups, participants either performed a cognitive task as a distractor or solved a cognitive task with a motor task.
Researchers tracked walking endurance, lower limb strength endurance, functional mobility, and balance, adjusting for age, sex, body mass, training frequency, physical activity level, and initial physical and cognitive status. Training improved motor capacities overall. However, simultaneous motor-cognitive training effects were relatively not different from motor training effects, and the two combined training modalities did not differ from each other.
Why it matters
Physical and cognitive abilities decline during normal aging, prompting interest in strategies to counteract these losses and preserve mobility. The study addresses whether pairing mental tasks with exercise offers any extra benefit over standard movement routines for supporting physical function in older age.
Caveats
The trial was only partially randomized, with control participants integrated rather than randomly assigned, and the sample was limited to 55 older adults. In addition, the abstract does not report the participants' specific age range, sex breakdown, or whether any adverse events occurred.
The paper
Le Mans Université
Experimental Gerontology, Jul 1, 2026, Open access
