Abstract
.Regular physical exercise has been shown to benefit neurocognitive functions, especially enhancing neurogenesis in the hippocampus. However, the effects of a single exercise session on cognitive functions are controversial. To address this issue, we measured hemodynamic changes in the brain during physical exercise using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and investigated related effects on memory consolidation processes. Healthy young participants underwent two experimental visits. During each visit, they performed an associative memory task in which they first encoded a series of pictures, then spent 30-min exercising or resting, and finally were asked to recall the picture associations. We used NIRS to track changes in oxygenated hemoglobin concentration over the prefrontal cortex during exercise and rest. To characterize local tissue oxygenation and perfusion, we focused on low frequency oscillations in NIRS, also called vasomotion. We report a significant increase in associative memory consolidation after exercise, as compared to after rest, along with an overall increase in vasomotion. Additionally, performance improvement after exercise correlated positively with power in the neurogenic component (0.02 to 0.04 Hz) and negatively with power in the endothelial component (0.003 to 0.02 Hz). Overall, these results suggest that changes in vasomotion over the prefrontal cortex during exercise may promote memory consolidation processes.
Highlights
Over the past decades, public policies have reiterated exercise recommendations, with a special emphasis placed on the benefits of physical activity on general health
We show (1) that 30 min of medium intense exercise enhances the consolidation of associative memories; (2) that the standard deviation (SD) of the HbO2 signal and the power over all three components of vasomotion are higher during exercise as compared to rest; and (3) that memory performance increase due to exercise correlates positively with the neurogenic vasomotion component and negatively with the endothelial component
Overall these results suggest that modulations of vasomotor activity over the prefrontal cortex during exercise are associated with enhanced memory consolidation
Summary
Public policies have reiterated exercise recommendations, with a special emphasis placed on the benefits of physical activity on general health. Regular physical exercise has been shown to have a positive impact on cognition,[1,2] notably in the memory domain.[3]. Basso et al.[15] suggested that performance enhancement related to physical exercise is primarily linked to prefrontal and not hippocampal function, whereas a recent study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) after acute physical exercise revealed changes in hippocampal memory representations.[11]
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