Impact of age, cardiorespiratory fitness, and regular physical activity on physiological strain and cognitive performance during a 6-h extreme heat exposure
Open accessAbstract
Advancing age is associated with progressive increases in the rise in core temperature during extreme heat exposure, and this trajectory is evident across the entire adult lifespan rather than emerging only in older adults. Thermoregulatory capacity declines steadily with each decade, leading to greater thermal strain even in mid-adulthood. Although higher cardiorespiratory fitness enhances sweating, it does not eliminate the age-related increase in core temperature, underscoring that heat vulnerability may develop gradually throughout adulthood.
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Heat vulnerability across the lifespan during prolonged heat exposure
Kenny, G. P. (2026) · Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00482.2026 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Périard, J. D., Clark, B., Jay, O., Deshayes, T. A., Gagnon, D., & Brown, H. A. (2026) · Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00565.2026
Self-citation
- Authors
- Brown, H. A., John, K., Elliott, J. D., Deshayes, T. A., Gagnon, D., Jay, O., Clark, B., & Périard, J. D.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- University of Canberra (AU)
- University of Canberra
- Université de Sherbrooke (CA)
- Montreal Heart Institute (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Brown, Harry A.
- Périard, Julien D.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Applied Physiology
- Publisher
- American Physiological Society
- Published
- 2026-06-01
- Volume
- 140
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1721-1731
- ISSN
- 0161-7567 (ISSN-L)
- 8750-7587
- 1522-1601
- OpenAlex
- W7161411470
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2
- FWCI
- 7.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Journal of Applied Physiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Open Science Framework
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Thermoregulation and physiological responses
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Keywords
- extreme heat exposure, aging, cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity, core body temperature, thermoregulation, heat strain, cognitive performance, sweating, heat vulnerability, midlife
- MeSH terms
- Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Adult, Aged, Aging, Body Temperature Regulation, Cognition, Female, Heart Rate, Hot Temperature, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Oxygen Consumption, Sweating, Exercise, Young Adult
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