Brain Gym® (BG) is a movement-based program originally designed to improve learning capabilities through the performance of mind-body exercises. BG can be considered as an interesting field of research due to the need of identifying novel therapies which might be more pleasant for older adults who tend not to be prone to participating in conventional exercise programs and might have a positive effect on their cognitive function. In spite of this, scientific evidence regarding the effects of BG on people with cognitive impairment is scarce.

A traditional physical exercise program designed for institutionalized elderly people aimed at increasing their range of mobility and coordination, specifically focused on the lower limbs.

Participants in the BrainGym Exercises group performed six of the following BG exercises in every training session they took part in: "Cross Crawl", "Gravity Glider", "Arm Activation", "Belly Breathing", "Hook-ups", "Think of an X", "Lazy Eights", "Elephant", "Space Buttons", "The Owl", "Energy Yawn", "Balance Buttons" and "The Energizer". All exercises were executed from a sitting position but following the main tenets of the Brain Gym® work routine.

By means of the Spanish version of the Mini-Mental State Examination. This is a 30-point questionnaire comprised by eight different categories and score range:

Orientation to time (0-5 points) Orientation to place (0-5 points) Registration (0-3 points) Attention and calculation (0-5 points) Recall (0-3 points) Language (0-2 points) Repetition (0-1 points) Complex commands (0-6 points)

The total score is the result of the summation of the categories. Interpretation:

Any score greater than or equal to 24 points (out of 30) indicates a normal cognition.

≤9 points: severe cognitive impairment 10-18 points: moderate cognitive impairment 19-23 points: mild cognitive impairment

By means of the Barthel Index (BI) Spanish version. This scale evaluates the independence for the activities of daily living. It contains 10 different activities, with a possible score ranging from 0 to 10, with a maximum total score of the scale of 100 (summing the subscales results).

Interpretation:

<20 Total dependence 21 - 60 Severe dependence 61 - 90 Moderate dependence 91 - 99 Mild dependence 100 Total Independence

By means of the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12), spanish version. For each of the 8 subscales, the value can go from 0 to 100. For the interpretation of the results, the 50 (standard deviation 10) value on each dimension must be the mean valor for the sub scale reported for the general population, meaning that more or less than 50 must be considered better or worse, respectively.

By means of the 5-Chair Stands Test.