One hard bike ride may boost brain flexibility in seniors
NCT ID NCT07727577
First seen Jul 27, 2026 · Last updated Aug 13, 2026 · Updated 3 times
Summary
This trial tests whether a single 30-minute session of high-intensity interval cycling can improve cognitive flexibility and brain activity in physically active older adults. Participants will complete a thinking test before and after the workout while their brain activity is monitored. The study also asks whether people with higher cardiorespiratory fitness get a bigger brain boost from the exercise.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- a single session of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on a stationary bike
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward exercise strategies to sharpen thinking and brain health in older adults.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage trial with only 50 participants. Results may not apply to less fit or older populations, and any cognitive boost may be short-lived.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 50 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Sep 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Aug 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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55 to 79 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Physical active in the last three months (\>3x/week of 30 minutes of moderate exercise) * To participate in the study, participants must answer "no" to all the Physical Activity Readiness questionnaire (PAR-Q) questions and have no signs and symptoms of cardiovascular, metabolic, and kidney diseases following the decision tree of the American College of Sports Medicine screening procedure. * Agree to have their data stored in a human performance database for future use. Agree to have their data stored in a repository per the requirement of peer-reviewed scientific journals, which may require data to be stored in a repository as a condition for publication. Such repositories are online databases, in which coded data is linked (no link to participants personally) to the journal article citation. Must read, understand, and sign the informed consent form. Exclusion Criteria: * Use of illicit drugs, excessive alcohol, and/or performance-enhancing drugs. * Have any current orthopedic injury. * Have implanted medical devices. * Serious medical conditions limiting the ability to safety participate in either the PA interventions; these include dementia, symptomatic heart or vascular disease, severe hypertension, recent myocardial infarction, stroke, severe insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, psychiatric disease, renal disease, liver disease or active cancer * Mini-mental examination score \< 23
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As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Colby-Sawyer College
New London, New Hampshire, 03257, United States
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