Cognitive Science & Psychology Division, ULAB

There is growing interest in the potential of exercise interventions in therapy for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This paper replicates and extends upon some of the analysis of a randomized controlled pilot study that investigates the effect of a 26-week aerobic exercise program on memory, executive function, functional ability, and depression in 68 participants who were likely to develop AD. The replication was focused specifically on the analysis performed on the Memory Composite outcome variable, reproducing an interaction model between two of the main variables, Treatment Arm (Stretching and Toning Exercise versus Aerobic Exercise) and Timepoint (Baseline, Week 13, Week 26). The replication yielded the same values as the original study with similarly insignificant p-values. Using RStudio, the present study tests three additional interaction models, the interaction between Sex and Treatment Arm, between Sex and Timepoint, and between Sex, Treatment Arm, and Timepoint. These tests yielded insignificant p-values, implying that, contrary to the previous literature on gender differences in AD and exercise interventions, gender may not be a differentiating factor in memory. The hypothesis was that the exercise type affects the interaction between time and memory loss in early AD patients.