Exercise in Older Adults at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

Older adults with type 2 diabetes experience neurocognitive decline and are at higher risk for developing dementia. Consequently, older adults at-risk for developing type 2 diabetes (i.e., those who are overweight and/or prediabetic) are at higher risk for neurocognitive decline, and intervening at this point may prevent or delay the onset of such decline. One promising lifestyle intervention that has been shown to improve cognitive function and brain health in other populations is resistance exercise. We previously conducted a 6-month resistance training randomized controlled trial (RCT) pilot study that showed a large scale trial would be viable and feasible. Consequently, we would like to explore resistance exercise as a lifestyle intervention to improve cognition and brain structure in older adults at risk for diabetes.