What this means
This study plans to test whether one session of hard interval cycling changes thinking and brain activity in older adults. It has not started, so it does not yet show any results.
Plain-English summary written by an AI model from the registry listing.
- Status
- Opening soon
- Who can join
- Ages 55–79
- Where
- 1 site, including New Hampshire
The science
- Registered title
- Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Acute High-Intensity Exercise Effects on Brain and Cognitive Function in Older Adults
- Trial ID
- NCT07727577 ↗
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Study type
- interventional
- Conditions
- Healthy Aging, Cognitive Benefits, Cardio Respiratory Fitness, Brain Activity
- What is tested
- High-Intensity Interval Training
- Sponsor
- Colby-Sawyer College
- Ages
- 55 Years to 79 Years
- Dates
- First posted Jul 27, 2026 · updated Aug 12, 2026
Registry summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether a single session of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIT) affects cognitive performance and brain activity in older adults, and whether cardiorespiratory fitness influences these effects. The main questions it aims to answer are:
- Does a single HIIT session change performance on a task-switching test of cognitive flexibility?
- Does a single HIIT session change prefrontal brain activity during cognitive testing, as measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)?
- Do older adults with higher cardiorespiratory fitness show greater cognitive and brain changes in response to HIIT than those with lower fitness?
Participants will:
- Visit the laboratory on two separate days
- Complete a sub-maximal graded exercise test during the first visit to measure cardiorespiratory fitness
- Complete a single \~30-minute HIIT cycling session during the second visit
- Complete a task-switching cognitive test before and after the HIIT session
- Have their brain activity monitored with fNIRS while completing the cognitive tests
Sites (1)
- Colby-Sawyer College, New London, New Hampshire, United States