Cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiometabolic health are associated with distinct cognitive domains in cognitively healthy older adults
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-26105-x
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Summary
This study investigates the distinct contributions of cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiometabolic health to cognitive functioning in cognitively healthy older adults (aged 60–70). While both physiological factors are known to decline with age and are linked to cognitive decline, their specific relationships with different cognitive domains remain unclear. The research aims to determine whether these two aspects of cardiovascular health uniquely predict performance in processing speed, executive function, verbal memory, and crystallized ability, thereby identifying potential targets for lifestyle interventions. The researchers analyzed data from 345 participants in the ACTIVate Study, a longitudinal cohort designed to examine lifestyle influences on brain health. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the study estimated latent variables for cardiorespiratory fitness (derived from resting heart rate, body mass index, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity) and cardiometabolic health (derived from blood pressure, glucose, lipids, and BMI). Cognitive domains were assessed using standardized neuropsychological tests, including the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) and the NIH Toolbox. The analytical approach involved four models: first establishing the structure of cognitive abilities, then assessing the unique associations of fitness and cardiometabolic health separately, and finally modeling both health factors concurrently to control for their shared variance. The results revealed a double dissociation between the cognitive correlates of the two health factors. Better cardiorespiratory fitness was significantly associated with higher performance in executive function and processing speed, but showed no significant association with verbal memory or crystallized ability. Conversely, better cardiometabolic health was significantly associated with higher crystallized ability and verbal memory, but not with executive function or processing speed. These relationships remained significant when both health factors were included in the same model, confirming that their contributions to cognition are distinct rather than overlapping. These findings provide the first evidence that cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiometabolic health relate to distinct aspects of cognition in later life. The study suggests that aerobic efficiency (fitness) selectively supports fluid cognitive processes like executive control and speed, while vascular and metabolic integrity (cardiometabolic health) supports knowledge-based and memory functions. This distinction highlights the importance of targeting specific physiological pathways through lifestyle interventions to support different cognitive domains in aging populations.
Key finding
Cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiometabolic health are associated with distinct cognitive domains, with fitness predicting executive function and processing speed, and cardiometabolic health predicting crystallized ability and verbal memory.
Methodology
dataset
Sample size: 345
Provenance
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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