Abstract
The metabolic syndrome (MS) has been associated with poor performances in multiple cognitive domains, as processing speed, visuo-spatial abilities, and executive functioning. Exercise is a critical factor for MS people’s vulnerability to cognitive dysfunction, because this may be beneficial to reduce cognitive impairment, but limited physical activity and impaired cerebral blood flow in response to exercise have been reported by individuals suffering from MS. Using an attentional interference test, the Bivalent Shape Task (BST), and metaboreflex, we analyzed cognitive performance and cerebral oxygenation (COX) in 13 MS people (five women), and 14 normal age-matched control (CTL, six women). Five different sessions were administered to all participants, each lasting 12 min: control exercise recovery (CER), post-exercise muscle ischemia (PEMI) to activate the metaboreflex, CER + BST, PEMI + BST, and BST alone. During each session, cognitive performance was assessed by means of response times and response accuracy with which participants make the decision and COX was evaluated by near infrared spectroscopy with sensors applied in the forehead. Compared to CTL, MS group performed significantly worse in all sessions (F = 4.18; p = 0.05; ES = 0.13): their poorest performance was observed in the BST alone session. Moreover, when BST was added to PEMI, individuals of the CTL group significantly increased their COX compared to baseline (103.46 ± 3.14%), whereas this capacity was impaired in MS people (102.37 ± 2.46%). It was concluded that: (1) MS affects cognitive performance; (2) people with MS were able to enhance COX during exercise, but they impair their COX when an attentional interference task was added.
Highlights
The metabolic syndrome (MS) is a cluster of interrelated conditions, increasing the risk of heart disease, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes mellitus, and stroke, among other health problems
The International Diabetes Federation estimated that 20–25% of the global adult population suffers from MS (International Diabetes Federation, 2015), which increases in older adults, but rates of MS ranging between 0 and 19.2% were reported among children and adolescents (Friend et al, 2013)
The principal aim of the present investigation was to characterize the mental performance and the cerebral oxygenation (COX) in people suffering from MS during exercise, associating a mental task (BST) to metaboreflex activated by means of the post-exercise muscle ischemia (PEMI) method
Summary
The metabolic syndrome (MS) is a cluster of interrelated conditions, increasing the risk of heart disease, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes mellitus, and stroke, among other health problems. MS is mostly associated with impaired executive functioning, among all reported deficits (Wooten et al, 2019), findings are mixed, with some cross-sectional studies reporting no effects (Tournoy et al, 2010; Kim et al, 2011) or even better cognitive performance among older women suffering from MS (Laudisio et al, 2008). Some of the ambiguity in the results obtained could be the effect of methodological issues as cognitive domains selected, demographic characteristics (i.e., differences in age, race, gender, educational level, and socioeconomic position), MS status vs persistent MS, health status of experimental and control group, and complexity in splitting the impact of individual factors from that of the MS itself (Akbaraly et al, 2010); further studies incorporating some protective factors have been claimed (Yates et al, 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
