Making Activity Time for Cognitive Health

Approximately 75% of cancer survivors experience some degree of cognitive deficit throughout their cancer experience, with upwards of one third of breast cancer survivors reporting impairments up to a decade after treatment. Chemotherapy and adjuvant therapy to remove cancerous tissue can result in deficits in attention, speed of processing, memory, and quality of life. Physical activity has been associated with a number of health benefits for breast cancer survivors including improvements in cognitive function. The investigators recently reported on the beneficial effects of acute exercise, or single sessions of physical activity, on processing speed and spatial working memory in breast cancer survivors, suggesting that acute bouts of physical activity may mitigate select domains of CRCI. Specifically, survivors in this study demonstrated faster processing speed, and trended towards faster and more accurate spatial working memory, after thirty minutes of moderate-intensity walking compared to seated rest. But half an hour of walking may be challenging to certain subgroups of survivors, particularly those who are deconditioned or with significant barriers to longer walks. With a renewed focus on un-bouted physical activity and avoiding inactivity during survivorship, it is important to better understand the dose or volume of exercise responsible for providing breast cancer survivors with the greatest cognitive benefits. The investigators examined the effects of varying durations of exercise (e.g., 10, 20 and 30 minutes) on cognitive function in breast cancer survivors to identify the optimal length of acute exercise. Findings from this study will inform new guidelines for acute exercise after cancer.