Abstract
Cognitive functions, such as working memory (WM) and attention, have been shown to benefit from physical exercise. Quantifying frequency-band-specific neural oscillatory patterns during the use of such cognitive functions can provide insight into exercise-induced benefits in the brain. Specifically, we investigated whether a 4-month physical exercise training influenced theta and alpha power measured in visual WM and attention tasks. The delayed match-to-sample (DMS) task required mnemonic discrimination of similar visual stimuli, akin to pattern separation, while the visual-attention search (VAS) task required detecting the presence of a specific object (i.e., target) in an image. Behavioral and electroencephalographic data were acquired during a DMS visual WM task and VAS task both before and after the intervention. Forty-three sedentary young adults (19–34 years) were pseudorandomly assigned to a training group (indoor treadmill, n = 20) or to a control group (n = 23). Compared to the preintervention baseline, the exercise group showed increased frontal alpha power (9–12 Hz) during the VAS task after the intervention. In addition, alpha power changes correlated positively with fitness changes. Behaviorally, there were no exercise-related effects on reaction times or accuracy in either task. Our findings substantiate that aerobic training of sedentary young adults may influence neural dynamics underlying visual attention rather than visual WM and mnemonic discrimination.
Highlights
The beneficial effects of exercise on brain function are of widespread interest but remain elusive
We observed an increase in aerobic fitness after a 4-month exercise intervention
The exercise intervention led to an increase in oxygen consumption at ventilatory anaerobic threshold, and a decrease in blood lactate threshold at maximum intensities
Summary
The beneficial effects of exercise on brain function are of widespread interest but remain elusive. Human research has demonstrated that physical exercise training has the greatest impact on spatial memory, working memory (WM), and executive attention (Cassilhas et al, 2016; De Sousa et al, 2018). Exercise studies have been quite inconsistent, and the number of studies on chronic (i.e., long-term) physical exercise, especially in young adults, is limited (Verburgh et al, 2014). It is essential to continue to study the cognitive benefits and neural plasticity associations with exercise, in young adults. Very few studies obtained measures of neural function in a controlled exercise intervention in addition to the commonly obtained behavioral and structural measures
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