Fit Seniors Better at Ignoring Distractions

Yet another reason to run into your twilight years.

September 5, 2013
Ed Whitlock Toronto Finish 2012

Were you to dine with 82-year-old masters champion Ed Whitlock (pictured) and an inactive, but mentally sharp octogenarian who happened to be, say, an awarding-winning novelist, who would be the better conversationalist?

Storytelling abilities aside, Whitlock would triumph on the merits of his miles, according to a new study that found that active seniors are less prone to distraction than their unfit counterparts.   

In the study, researchers in Germany hypothesized that physically fit seniors would outperform inactive seniors during an auditory test. Practically speaking, that means they would be better able to carry on a conversation in a busy restaurant, for example, or stay focused on a radio program while grandkids played in the background.  

The researchers included 162 adults age 65 to 88 who were either inactive or active. All were mentally fit, living independently and healthy. Subjects listened to a tone and were told to concentrate on one aspect of it (duration, for example) and ignore others (pitch or volume). Subjects’ physical fitness and brain activity were also measured.

The researchers found that inactive seniors were more readily distracted; that is, their attention was diverted from the task more often than the fit group. Brain activity also suggested that inactive seniors were more prone to involuntary shifts in attention than active older adults, according to the study, which was published in the journal PloS One.


New Research on Older Runners

How To Be 40 Years Old at 80