Aging and Mentalizing Decline: The Protective Effect of Physical Activity

The current study aimed to understand how aging influences cognitive and mentalizing processes, and to explore whether physical activity protects against cognitive and social function decline in older adults. A total of 104 adults participants (44 Older adults, 60 younger Control) were recruited to complete the Go/No-go task and the Picture sequencing task, which measured their executive control and mentalizing ability respectively. Their general cognitive function was measured using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and the frequency of physical activity was assessed through a self-report question. The current study demonstrated that, compared to control participants, elder participants performed relatively well in maintaining attention and inhibiting irrelevant responses, as evidenced by comparable response times on Go trials and accuracy on both Go and No-go trials in the Go/No-go task. However, older participants showed significant impairments in reconstructing sequences of events in the Picture sequencing task, particularly those requiring the mentalizing capacity to infer others’ false belief, even after controlling MoCA scores (both accuracy and response times). Importantly, a higher frequency of physical activity was found to mitigate age-related declines in reconstructing events sequences among older adults, particularly in stories involving others’ false beliefs. Overall, the current findings suggest that mentalizing abilities decrease independently of general cognitive decline. Furthermore, physical activity may serve as a potential protective factor in mitigating age-related cognitive impairments.