Effects of 6-Month Combined Physical Exercise and Cognitive Training on Neuropsychological and Neurophysiological Function in Older Adults with Subjective Cognitive Decline: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Multidomain intervention may delay or ameliorate cognitive decline in older adults at risk of Alzheimer’s disease, particularly in the memory and inhibitory functions. However, no study systematically investigates the changes of brain function in cognitively-normal elderly with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) when they receive multidomain intervention. Objective: We aimed to examine whether a multidomain intervention could improve neuropsychological function and neurophysiological activities related to memory and inhibitory function in SCD subjects. Methods: Eight clusters with a total of 50 community-dwelling SCD older adults were single-blind, randomized into intervention group, which received physical and cognitive training, or control group, which received treatment as usual. For the neuropsychological function, a composite Z score from six cognitive tests was calculated and compared between two groups. For the neurophysiological activities, event-related potentials (ERPs) of memory function, including mismatch negativity (MMN) and memory-P3, as well as ERPs of inhibitory function, including sensory gating (SG) and inhibition-P3, were measured. Assessments were performed at baseline (T1), end of the intervention (T2), and 6 months after T2 (T3). Results: For the neuropsychological function, the effect was not observed after the intervention. For the neurophysiological activities, improved MMN responses of ΔT2–T1 were observed in the intervention group versus the control group. The multidomain intervention produced a sustained effect on memory-P3 latencies of ΔT3–T1. However, there were no significant differences in changes of SG and inhibition-P3 between intervention and control groups. Conclusions: While not impactful on neuropsychological function, multidomain intervention enhances specific neurophysiological activities associated with memory function.