CARDIORESPIRATORY HEALTH, REACTION-TIME AND AGING

Abstract

Visual simple and choice reaction time (RT) tests were administered to 64 male and female human volunteers 23-59 yr of age. Of the subjects 1/2 were runners involved in rigorous training programs averaging 42 miles/wk. The other 1/2 of the subjects were sedentary adults. Eighty simple and 100 choice reaction time trials were given with a variable foreperiod ranging from 400-1100 ms. Catch trials [5] were given in both simple and choice reaction time conditions. There was a gradual decline in RT performance as age increased. This trend was not evident in the trained group. Reaction time remained constant with age within the trained group. A high state of cardiorespiratory training may prevent cognitive decrements in performance with age.