Tjalma, A. (Arjen) (2018) The effect of acute exercise on brain activity during a working memory task in younger and older adults. thesis, Human Movement Sciences.
Full text available on request.Abstract
Background: The interest in the effects of exercise on cognitive functions has recently grown. However, the effects of a single bout of exercise, also known as ‘acute exercise’, leaves many aspects to be researched, especially when it comes to working memory, a cognitive function important in daily life and goal-directed behaviour. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of acute exercise on working memory in healthy adults, both on a behavioural level as well as underlying brain activation. As a second aim, the main effects are corrected for fitness level. The third aim is to investigate whether the effect of acute exercise differs for younger and older adults, both with and without fitness level correction. Method: 33 younger adults (18 – 30 years old) and 27 older adults (50 – 65 years old) participated. They were scanned twice using fMRI while assessing working memory using the N-Back task, once following an exercise session where they cycled for 15 minutes on 70% of their maximum heart rate and once following a no exercise control session. Reaction time and accuracy scores were used to assess behavioural performance. Fitness level (VO2max) was estimated from the results of a submaximal bicycle ergometer test. Behavioural data were assessed with a repeated measures MANOVA using SPSS, while fMRI analysis was done using SPM12. Results: Outcomes showed that accuracy scores did not improve significantly after acute exercise, while reaction time on the 2-Back condition did get significantly faster. The fMRI results showed more activation in the primary somatosensory cortex, premotor cortex, thalamus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and less activation in the insular cortex and in another part of the premotor cortex after the bout of exercise compared to the control session. When corrected for fitness level, no significant clusters survived. Participants with a lower fitness level showed more activation than those with a higher fitness level. Younger adults showed more activation after acute exercise than older adults in eleven areas, but when corrected for fitness level, only two brain areas still showed differences. Conclusion: Acute exercise influences working memory on a behavioural level, by decreasing reaction time, and in underlying brain activation, by altering activation patterns. Adults with a lower fitness level showed more activity than those with a higher fitness level. Younger adults seem to benefit more than older adults from the bout of exercise, but differences were less pronounced when fitness level was taken into account. Future studies should include a more heterogeneous group when it comes to education level and fitness level to confirm these results.
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Asselt, E.M. van and Hartman, dr. E. |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 11 May 2022 09:25 |
| Last Modified: | 11 May 2022 09:25 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3272 |
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