Brief mind–body exercise in high-latitude aging: reduced sedentarism and domain-specific cognitive/social benefits

TL;DR

A short mind–body exercise program helps older adults in cold, high-latitude regions reduce sitting time and improve cognitive and social skills.

Contribution

This study provides preliminary evidence that a climate-adapted mind–body exercise program can reduce sedentarism and improve specific cognitive and social outcomes in older adults at high southern latitudes.

Findings

Sitting time decreased and physical activity increased after the exercise program.

Visuospatial–executive cognitive function showed a tendency to improve.

Empathy increased, with women showing greater improvement than men.

Abstract

Older adults living at high southern latitudes face compounded barriers to mobility and social participation due to cold, wind, and seasonality. Visuospatial–executive functions, which support everyday tasks such as route finding, dual-task walking, and planning in older adults, are particularly vulnerable to age-related decline after the seventh decade of life. Low-dose, climate-adapted mind–body exercise (MBE), delivered once weekly in community settings, may offer a feasible way to reduce sedentary time and support cognitive and social functioning, yet evidence from sub-Antarctic settings is scarce. We tested whether a short, standardized MBE program produces preliminary changes in sedentary behavior, physical activity, cognition, and socio-affective outcomes.

In a pre-experimental single-group pre–post design, community-dwelling older people (N = 44; Punta Arenas, Chile; mean age 69.7 ± 5.3 años) completed 24 supervised sessions (60 min, 1/week) across 24 weeks. Outcomes were IPAQ-Short (MET-min/week; sitting min/day), cognition (MoCA), and empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index, IRI). Bayesian linear mixed-effects models estimated pre–post changes and moderation by age, sex, and education.

Sitting time decreased (β = −0.71; 95% CrI −2.07 to 0.52; pd = 86.1%), and weekly physical activity increased (β = 0.52; −0.76 to 1.81; pd = 78.9%). Age moderated sedentariness change (age × time β = 0.46; 0.03 to 0.89; pd = 98%: relatively younger participants reduced sitting more). Global MoCA remained stable (β = −0.27; −1.63 to 1.10; pd = 65.2%), while the visuospatial–executive domain tended to improve (β = 0.45; −0.87 to 1.78; pd = 74.5%). Empathy (IRI total) increased (β = 0.59; −0.75 to 1.94; pd = 81.2%) with a sex interaction (sex × time β = −0.97; −1.92 to −0.07; pd = 97.8%: women improved more).

A brief, indoor, regionally adapted MBE program is feasible and produces a meaningful profile of benefits, including reduced sedentarism, selective enhancement of executive-visuospatial function, and increased empathy, in older people living at high southern latitudes.

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