title: Effect of acute exercise and cardiovascular fitness on cognitive function: an event-related cortical desynchronization study.
abstract: This study aimed to clarify the effects of acute exercise and cardiovascular fitness on cognitive function using the Stroop test and event-related desynchronization (ERD) in an aged population. Old adults (63.10 ± 2.89 years) were first assigned to either a high-fitness or a low-fitness group, and they were then subjected to an acute exercise treatment and a reading control treatment in a counterbalanced order. Alpha ERD was recorded during the Stroop test, which was administered after both treatments. Acute exercise improved cognitive performance regardless of the level of cognition, and old adults with higher fitness levels received greater benefits from acute exercise. Additionally, acute exercise, rather than overall fitness, elicited greater lower and upper alpha ERDs relative to the control condition. These findings indirectly suggest that the beneficial effects of acute exercise on cognitive performance may result from exercise-induced attentional control observed during frontal neural excitation.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Athletics and Coaching Science, National Taiwan Sport University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Kai
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Chien-Heng
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Chun-Chih
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tai-Fen
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Gao-Xia
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003344:Cortical Synchronization / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D057190:Stroop Test
keywords: Electroencephalography (EEG); Event-related synchronization (ERS); Executive function; Stroop test