Does Cardiorespiratory Fitness Influence the Effect of Acute Aerobic Exercise on Executive Function?

Abstract

Background The beneficial effects of acute exercise on executive function have been well-documented, but the influence of cardiorespiratory fitness on this effect requires further investigations, especially using imaging technique. This study aimed to examine the effects of cardiorespiratory fitness on acute exercise-induced changes on behavioral performance and on functional brain activation. Method Based on their cardiorespiratory fitness level, 62 participants ranked in the top and bottom of the maximum oxygen consumption (VO 2 max) were finally selected and allocated to high-fit group or low-fit group. Both groups were asked to complete the Stroop task after 30 min of aerobic exercise and chair-seated rest (control session). Among them, 26 participants were randomly selected and asked to undergo the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Results Behavioral results showed that individuals responded significantly faster after exercise than those in the control session. The fMRI results revealed a significant interaction effects of Group by Session in brain regions including anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and bilateral dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). For the ACC, activation in the high-fit group was significantly decreased after aerobic exercise compared to those in the control session; whereas an increased activation was noticed in the low-fit group. Regarding to the bilateral DLPFC, activation in high-fit group was significantly decreased after exercise compared to those in the control session, while no significant differences were found in the low-fit group. In addition, for the post-exercise session, a significant positive correlations between activation of the ACC and left DLPFC in the high-fit group was observed. There was a significant negative correlation between activation of the ACC and reaction time in the congruent condition after exercise in the low-fit group. Conclusion Findings further clarify the neurophysiological processes of acute exercise-induced changes in cognitive performance as they suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness is an important factor which influences changes in brain activation patterns in response to acute aerobic exercises.

Examining the Acute Effects of Classroom-Based Physical Activity Breaks on Executive Functioning in 11- to 14-Year-Old Children: Single and Additive Moderation Effects of Physical Fitness

“…In addition, a linear relationship was observed in the conditional effect output from the Johnson-Neyman technique indicating executive functioning performance increased as aerobic fitness increased. These findings support the potential influence of high levels of aerobic fitness following acute physical activity on executive functioning, however additional research is needed given inconsistencies within the literature (42,55,56,(58)(59)(60)(61)(62).…”

“…However, these findings were strictly limited to acute aerobic exercise performed at a moderate intensity. More recent experimental evidence continues to remain mixed across aerobic fitness levels, exercise intensities, age groups, and measures of executive functioning [i.e., (59)(60)(61)(62)] suggesting future research is warranted to further elucidate this complex relationship.…”

Aerobic fitness is associated with cerebral mu-opioid receptor availability and activation in healthy humans

“…As these regions are closely implicated in the modulation of emotions [21,48] and cognitive processes [49], functional changes in these regions may mediate many psychological benefits derived from regular exercise practice as well as exercise motivation and habits. In line with this, functional imaging studies have consistently reported associations between various indices of fitness such as VO 2peak or blood lactate curve and executive functions in lateral fronto-parietal and anterior cingulate cortices [56–60]. Additionally, temporal regions have been suggested to play a role in regular exercise induced mood improvements [61], and insula and parietal cortex have shown altered reward processing in response to regular exercise training [62].…”

Causes and Consequences of Interindividual Response Variability: A Call to Apply a More Rigorous Research Design in Acute Exercise-Cognition Studies

“…In addition, environmental influencing factors (e.g., climatic and geographic conditions) and the actual state of the level of psychophysiological capacity (including abilities like cardiorespiratory fitness/performance level) should also be considered to compare the effects of acute physical exercise regarding interindividual response variability Herold et al, 2019;Gronwald et al, 2020b). For example, it has been observed that the effects of acute physical exercises on cognitive performance (Chang et al, 2012;Oberste et al, 2019) or functional brain activation patterns (Li et al, 2019;Ludyga et al, 2019;Cui et al, 2020) are modulated by the level of cardiorespiratory fitness or by regular physical activity level.…”