Abstract
A single bout of high intensity aerobic exercise (~90% VO2peak) was previously demonstrated to amplify off-line gains in skill level during the consolidation phase of procedural memory. High intensity exercise is not always a viable option for many patient groups or in a rehabilitation setting where low to moderate intensities may be more suitable. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of intensity in mediating the effects of acute cardiovascular exercise on motor skill learning. We investigated the effects of different exercise intensities on the retention (performance score) of a visuomotor accuracy tracking task. Thirty six healthy male subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups that performed either a single bout of aerobic exercise at 20 min post motor skill learning at 45% (EX45), 90% (EX90) maximal power output (Wmax) or rested (CON). Randomization was stratified to ensure that the groups were matched for relative peak oxygen consumption (ml O2/min/kg) and baseline score in the tracking task. Retention tests were carried out at 1 (R1) and 7 days (R7) post motor skill learning. At R1, changes in performance scores were greater for EX90 compared to CON (p<0.001) and EX45 (p = 0.011). The EX45 and EX90 groups demonstrated a greater change in performance score at R7 compared to the CON group (p = 0.003 and p<0.001, respectively). The change in performance score for EX90 at R7 was also greater than EX45 (p = 0.049). We suggest that exercise intensity plays an important role in modulating the effects that a single bout of cardiovascular exercise has on the consolidation phase following motor skill learning. There appears to be a dose-response relationship in favour of higher intensity exercise in order to augment off-line effects and strengthen procedural memory.
Highlights
The benefits of physical activity on brain function, brain health and cognition are well documented [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] and it has previously been demonstrated that an acute bout of exercise can positively affect cognition [9, 10] and declarative memory [11, 12]
We proposed the following hypothesis; the level of consolidation of a newly acquired motor skill, measured via retention tests at 1 (R1) and 7 days (R7), would depend on the intensity of the exercise performed in a dose-response manner
Following the 7 day retention test only the control group (CON) and EX45 groups improved motor performance with continued practice. This could indicate that EX90 had significantly larger offline gains in motor performance compared to CON and EX90 and were approaching a possible ceiling effect in the Visuomotor Accuracy Tracking Task (VAT) task, and that the task may, to some extent, have limited the effects observed for EX90
Summary
The benefits of physical activity on brain function, brain health and cognition are well documented [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] and it has previously been demonstrated that an acute bout of exercise can positively affect cognition [9, 10] and declarative memory [11, 12]. While there is evidence to suggest that an acute exercise bout can positively affect procedural memory, the mechanisms underlying the effects remain, poorly understood and learning tasks and exercise paradigms vary between studies [14, 20,21,22]. It is not clear which aspects of exercise are critical for positive effects on procedural memory. Within exercise, it is possible to control intensity; either relative to maximal oxygen uptake, maximum power output or age related maximum heart rate
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