A controlled clinical trial on the effects of motor intervention on balance and cognition in institutionalized elderly patients with dementia

Purpose: To analyse the effects of two interventions on the cognition and balance of institutionalized elderly people with mixed dementia.Methods: Fifty-four participants were allocated into three groups. Group 1 was assisted by an interdisciplinary programme comprising physiotherapy, occupational therapy and physical education. A physiotherapist alone carried out the intervention in group 2. Group 3 was considered as control. Assessors were blinded to guarantee the absence of bias. Cognitive functions were analysed with the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery. Balance was assessed with the Berg Balance Scale and the Timed Get-Up-and-Go Test. Multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test possible main effects of the interventions.Results: The results showed benefits on the balance of subjects in both groups 1 (F=3.9, P < 0.05) and 2 (F= 3.1, P < 0.05), compared with group 3. MANOVA did not indicate benefits on the cognitive functions between groups 1 and 3 (F= 1.1, P > 0.05) and groups 2 and 3 (F= 1.6, P > 0.05). However, univariate analysis indicated some benefits of the interdisciplinary intervention on two specific domains measured by the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (F=26.5, P < 0.05; F= 4.4, P < 0.05).Conclusion: Six months of multidisciplinary or physiotherapeutic intervention were able to improve a person's balance. Although global cognition did not improve through treatment, when the intervention was carried out on a multidisciplinary basis we observed an attenuation in the decline of global cognition on two specific cognitive domains. Exercises applied in different contexts may have positive outcomes for people with dementia.

Astrocytes and human cognition: Modeling information integration and modulation of neuronal activity

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Physical Exercise in MCI Elderly Promotes Reduction of Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines and Improvements on Cognition and BDNF Peripheral Levels

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Social isolation in a group living fish impairs cognition

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Development of numerical cognition among Brazilian school-aged children

The Numerical Cognition is influenced by biological, cognitive, educational, and cultural factors and entails the following systems: Number Sense (NS) represents the innate ability to recognize, compare, add, and subtract small quantities, without the need of counting; Number Production (NP) which includes reading, writing and counting numbers or objects; Number Comprehension (NC), i.e., the understanding the nature of the numerical symbols and their number, and the calculation (CA). The aims of the present study were to: i) assess theoretical constructs (NS, NC, NP and CA) in children from public schools from 1 st -to 6 th - grades; and ii) investigate their relationship with schooling and working memory. The sample included 162 children, both genders, of 7-to 12-years-old that studied in public school from 1 st -to 6 th -grades, which participated in the normative study of Zareki-R (Battery of neuropsychological tests for number processing and calculation in children, Revised; von Aster & Dellatolas, 2006). Children of 1 st and 2 nd grades demonstrated an inferior global score in NC, NP and CA. There were no genderrelated differences. The results indicated that the contribution of NS domain in Zareki-R performance is low in comparison to the other three domains, which are dependent on school-related arithmetic skills.