新觀點：健身運動與營養補充劑對認知老化之影響

New Perspective: Effect of Exercise and Nutritional Supplements on Cognitive Aging in Older Adults

研究發現老化與認知功能的呈現負向有關，而健身運動或營養介入已被視為改善老年人認知功能之可能因子；然目前國內未有相關文獻同時探討兩種介入對於老化認知功能的影響。本文目的在回顧健身運動與營養補充劑對老年族群認知功能之研究證據，其首先以健身運動對認知功能的影響進行討論，其後提出幾種營養補充劑並討論其對認知功能的關係，最後介紹兩種介入對認知功能的可能機制與回顧目前該議題的研究結果。經文獻回顧後發現，諸多研究發現單一健身運動或二十二碳六烯酸、維生素、蛋白質、左旋肉鹼與肌酸等營養補充劑介入對認知功能有著正面影響。另外，本文為瞭解兩種介入是否對認知功能之效益外，再提出大腦營養因子、氧化壓力、及大腦結構等方面的可能生物機制。最後本文發現兩者同時介入對認知功能有額外效益，其效益優於單一營養補充劑的介入，這結果說明健身運動對改善老年認知功能的效益仍扮演著重要角色。鑑於該些研究目前仍屬於新穎議題之一，在實驗設計上有較多侷限，未來仍需更多研究進一步作釐清。本文建議未來研究可朝向認知功能多元性、神經造影、不同健身運動型態、及系列性研究等方向進行後續探討。

 

Studies have indicated that aging is negatively associated with cognitive functions, and previous studies have showed that exercise or nutritional intervention alone were significant factors useful in improving cognitive function in older adults. However, there is limited literature exploring the effects of combined exercise and nutritional supplements on cognitive functions. Therefore, the present review was firstly conceived to examine the evidence about exercise training and cognitive functions. Secondly, we provide evidence from some studies related to nutritional supplements and discuss the relationship between their use and cognitive functions. Finally, we introduced the possibility of the effects of biological mechanisms on cognitive functions, when older adults engaged in an intervention of combined exercise and the use of nutritional supplements, and further reviewed the results of this study. The review indicated that several studies supported a positive effect of exercise or nutritional supplements alone (e.g. docosahexaenoic acid, vitamin, protein, L-carnitine, and creatine) on cognitive functions. For understanding the effects of the combining of exercise and nutritional supplements, the review provides some mechanisms (e.g. brain trophic factors, oxidative stress, and brain volume) in order to explain the possible outcome of such relationships, when exercise is done in combination with the use of nutritional supplements. The results of these studies indicated that exercise combined with nutritional supplements could provide the potential benefits, the overall effects are greater than for those subjects that only engaged in using nutritional supplements. These findings implied that exercise intervention plays an important role in improving cognitive functions in older adults. This area of research is still novel, and it is limited by experimental study designs, which lead to many questions to be answered in the future. We suggest that future study directions can extend their assessments to some related areas of interest (e.g. multiple cognitive functions, neuroimaging techniques, differential exercise modes, and systematic studies) that should be further explored.