Effects of Acute Aerobic Exercise Combined with Resistance Exercise on Neurocognitive Performance in Obese Women.

Huei-Jhen Wen,Chia-Liang Tsai

doi:10.3390/brainsci10110767

Huei-Jhen Wen, Chia-Liang Tsai

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10110767

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Abstract

To the best of the author’s knowledge, there have been no previous studies conducted on the effects of a combination of acute aerobic and resistance exercise on deficit of inhibitory control in obese individuals. The aim of this study was, thus, to examine the effect of a single bout of such an exercise mode on behavioral and cognitive electrophysiological performance involving cognitive interference inhibition in obese women. After the estimated VO2max and percentage fat (measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (Hologic, Bedford, MA, USA) were assessed, 32 sedentary obese female adults were randomly assigned to an exercise group (EG) and a control group (CG), with their behavioral performance being recorded with concomitant electrophysiological signals when performing a Stroop task. Then, the EG engaged in 30 min of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise combined with resistance exercise, and the CG rested for a similar duration of time without engaging in any type of exercise. After the interventions, the neurocognitive performance was measured again in the two groups. The results revealed that although acute exercise did not enhance the behavioral indices (e.g., accuracy rates (ARs) and reaction times (RTs)), cognitive electrophysiological signals were improved (e.g., shorter N2 and P3 latencies, smaller N2 amplitudes, and greater P3 amplitudes) in the Stroop task after the exercise intervention in the EG. The findings indicated that a combination of acute moderate-intensity aerobic and resistance exercise may improve the neurophysiological inhibitory control performance of obese women.

Highlights

Obesity is considered to be an immunodeficient, chronic inflammation state, which may contribute to an increased risk of premature death [1]
Some studies examining the effects of acute exercise on executive function using a neurophysiological approach failed to observe alterations in N2 amplitude after acute aerobic exercise [9,55], the results of the present study showed that the decreased N2 amplitude following acute exercise in the exercise group (EG) was in line with the previous findings [62,65], implying that 30-min of supervised moderate-intensity aerobic dance combined with resistance exercise could enhance response inhibition associated with conflict monitoring [66] in obese women
Further long-term regular exercise interventional studies are needed to understand the neurocognitive benefits for obese sedentary women. This is the first study to investigate the effects of an acute exercise modality combining aerobic and resistance exercise on neurophysiological performance among obese women

Summary

Introduction

Obesity is considered to be an immunodeficient, chronic inflammation state, which may contribute to an increased risk of premature death [1]. This chronic disease has been associated with increases in non-communicative diseases (e.g., type II diabetes, hypertension), and with reduced brain volume (e.g., frontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex) and impaired neurocognitive outcomes (e.g., frontal-lobe-based executive functions) [2]. Acute exercise can enhance a wide range of cognitive performance, including basic information processing, attention, crystallized intelligence, and executive functions [9,10].

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