Effect of exercise on the auditory discrimination task in perimenopausal women: a preliminary study

Abstract

Background The climacteric phase of menopausal transition (perimenopause) is marked by reproductive hormone fluctuations and reduced cognitive capacity. Exercise enhances neurocognitive performance. However, auditory perceptual sensitivity has not been examined. Purpose This study aimed to determine the effect of aerobic exercise on the response speed (reaction time) and error rate during auditory processing among perimenopausal women. Methods Three pitches (500, 1000, and 2000 Hz) were used during a simple auditory discrimination task, which was performed before and after exercise. We included 14 perimenopausal women and 17 right-handed young women (aged 46-54 years and 18-22 years, respectively). To achieve similar exercise intensity in both groups, we proposed two types of physical activities for each group. Mixed models statistics were used to analyze the reaction time and error rate before and after training in the two groups. Results Perimenopausal women exhibited a significantly longer reaction time than young women during the baseline auditory discrimination task (p< 0.05) but not during the second test. The error rate decreased significantly after exercise among perimenopausal women (p < 0.05) but not among young women. Thus, exercise had a stronger beneficial influence on auditory plasticity or sensitivity for perimenopausal women than for young women. Conclusion The ability of aerobic exercise to modulate auditory neurocognitive performance differs between the two groups. Aerobic exercise improves auditory discrimination performance specifically for perimenopausal women. These results provide preliminary evidence concerning the acoustic features of middle-aged women, underscoring the importance of exercise for preventing decline in auditory cognitive function in perimenopausal women.

Brain Mapping the Effects of Chronic Aerobic Exercise in the Rat Brain Using FDG PET

“…Of the projections from the inferior colliculus to the thalamus (involved in somatosensory integration and motor control), 40% are GABAergic [ 62 , 63 ]. Known mostly for the relaying of sonic information, the inferior colliculus has also been speculated to be involved in the integration of multimodal sensory integration (including visual information), attention, and reflexes, thus supporting the findings on decreased reaction times reported above [ 62 , 64 , 65 , 66 ].…”

“…Studies have shown that exercise has an influence on reactions to auditory cues in humans and animals, with most evidence pointing to post-exercise improvements in auditory reactions. Aerobic exercise has been shown to improve reaction times and decrease errors in auditory discrimination tasks in perimenopausal women [ 66 ]. A 2013 study found that, among 50 healthy adult subjects, regular aerobic exercise significantly decreased reaction times in an audio-cued labeling task compared to controls who did not exercise regularly [ 65 ].…”