ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior
This article is part of the Research TopicPreserving Emotional Health in Aging: Unraveling the Neural Mechanisms and Implications for Neurodegenerative DiseasesView all 6 articles
Self-Reported Hopefulness and Cognitive Function: The Moderating Effect of Physical Activity in Older Adults Without Cognitive Impairment
Provisionally accepted
Boung Chul Lee1
Young Min Choe2
Ji-Hyun Kim2Hye Ji Choi2Guk-Hee Suh2
Shin Gyeom Kim3
Hyun Soo Kim2
Jaeuk Hwang3
DAHYUN YI4
Jee Wook Kim2*- 1Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon-si, Republic of Korea
- 2Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital, Hwaseong, Republic of Korea
- 3Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Cheonan-si, Republic of Korea
- 4Seoul National University Hospital, Jongno-gu, Republic of Korea
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Background: With dementia cases rising globally, identifying modifiable psychological factors that support cognitive resilience is crucial. Hopefulness, an optimistic emotional state, may serve as a protective factor against cognitive decline. However, its role in cognitively normal (CN) individuals remains underexplored. We aim to investigate the association between self-reported hopefulness and overall cognitive function in CN older adults and to examine the moderating effect of physical activity on this relationship. Methods: A total of 152 CN adults aged 65–90 years were included in the General Lifestyle and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) study. Hopefulness was assessed by the Geriatric Depression Scale item "Are you hopeful about the future?", with "Yes" and "No" responses defining the hopefulness and non-hopefulness groups. Cognitive function was measured using the total score (TS) of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) neuropsychological battery. Physical activity was evaluated using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly. Results: Participants in the hopefulness group showed significantly higher TS scores compared to the non-hopefulness group (B = 5.009, p = 0.003). Physical activity moderated this relationship, with a stronger positive association observed in individuals with high-to-moderate activity levels (B = 7.409, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Self-reported hopefulness, defined as optimism about the future, is positively associated with cognitive function in CN older adults, particularly among those with high-to-moderate physical activity levels. Interventions promoting both emotional well-being and physical activity may offer synergistic benefits for cognitive health.
Keywords: hopefulness, Cognition, Cognitively normal, Alzheimer's disease, physical activity
Received: 13 Jun 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lee, Choe, Kim, Choi, Suh, Kim, Kim, Hwang, YI and Kim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jee Wook Kim, kimakins@hanmail.net
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