Brain endurance training (BET), a combined cognitive and exercise training method developed for athletes, boosts mental and physical abilities in older adults. 

According to a new study by researchers at the Universities of Birmingham, UK, and Extremadura, Spain, brain endurance training (BET) can improve attention, executive function (cognition), physical endurance, and resistance exercise performance. BET is a combined exercise and cognitive training method that was initially developed to increase endurance among elite athletes. 

The research has significant implications for healthy aging. Previous studies have shown that mental fatigue can impair both cognitive and physical performance, leading to issues such as poorer balance control, and increased risk of falls and accidents. This study, published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise, is the first to examine the benefits of BET for both cognitive and physical performance in older adults.

Corresponding author Professor Chris Ring said: “We have shown that BET could be an effective intervention to improve cognitive and physical performance in older adults, even when tired. This could have significant implications for improving this population’s health, including reducing the risk of falls and accidents.” 

In the experiment, 24 healthy sedentary women aged between 65-78 were allocated to one of three training groups: brain endurance training (BET), exercise training, and no training (control group). The first two groups each completed three 45-minute exercise sessions per week over eight weeks. Each session included 20 minutes of resistance and 25 minutes of endurance training. While the exercise sessions were the same for each of these groups, the BET group also completed a 20-minute cognitive task before exercising. 

All three groups completed a series of cognitive (reaction time and colour-matching tests) and physical tests (walk, chair-stand and arm-curl tests) to assess performance at the start and end of the study. Participants in the BET group outperformed the exercise-only group in the cognitive tasks, with a 7.8% increase in cognitive performance after exercise, compared to a 4.5% increase in the exercise-only group. Regarding physical performance, the BET group achieved a 29.9% improvement, compared to 22.4% for the exercise-only group. 

“BET is an effective countermeasure against mental fatigue and its detrimental effects on performance in older adults,” added Professor Ring. “While we still need to extend our research to include larger sample sizes including both men and women, these promising initial findings show we should do more to encourage older people to engage in BET to improve brain and body activities.”