Introduction
Cognitive decline with aging is a population health issue. Cycling may help maintain cognitive function and prevent cognitive decline in older adulthood. We conducted a scoping review to summarize and identify gaps in the literature examining cycling for transportation and/or recreation and their association with cognition in middle-aged and older adults.
Methods
Nine bibliographic databases were searched (inception-March 2024) to identify all articles that reported on cycling for transportation, leisure outdoors, or cycling indoors along a virtual bike path, and any cognitive outcome among adults ≥ 45 years of age. We summarized article findings and associations narratively.
Results
Searching identified 5171 citations, and 23 articles were included examining apparently healthy and clinical populations. Cycling interventions included virtual cycling indoors (randomized controlled trials=10, quasi-experimental=5), cycling outdoors for recreation (quasi-experimental=3, cross-sectional=1), any reason (cohort=1, cross-sectional=1), or transportation (simulation modelling=2). The most frequently examined cognitive outcome was executive function (n = 15), followed by memory (n = 9) and, global cognition (n = 9). Most articles (70 %) reported a statistically significant positive association between cycling and a cognitive outcome. Identified literature gaps include, a lack of sex- and gender-based analyses; robust study designs exploring cycling outdoors including for transportation; and literature examining additive cognitive benefits of cycling over other physical activity and transportation modes.
Conclusion
Cycling may help maintain or improve cognitive health during aging. Further high-quality research is needed to examine outdoor and transport cycling across all cognitive outcomes, the additional benefits of cycling over other physical activity and transportation modes, and whether gender differences exist. Cycling may help maintain or improve cognitive health during aging. Further high-quality research is needed to examine outdoor and transport cycling across all cognitive outcomes, the additional benefits of cycling over other physical activity and transportation modes, and whether gender differences exist.
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