The relationship between vigilance capacity and physical exercise: A mixed-effects multistudy analysis

Abstract

A substantial body of work has depicted a positive association between physical exercise and cognition, although the key factors driving that link are still a matter of scientific debate. Here, we aimed to contribute further to that topic by pooling the data from seven studies (N=361) conducted by our research group to examine whether cardiovascular fitness (VO2), sport type participation (externally-paced [e.g., football or basketball] and self-paced [e.g., triathlon or track and field athletes] vs. sedentary), or both, are crucial factors to explain the association between the regular practice of exercise and vigilance capacity. We controlled for relevant variables such as age and the method of VO2 estimation. The Psychomotor Vigilance Task was used to measure vigilance performance by means of reaction time (RT). The results showed that externally-paced sport practice (e.g., football) resulted in significantly shorter RT compared to self-paced sport (e.g., triathlon) and sedentary condition, depicting larger effects in children and adolescents than in adults. Further analyses revealed no significant effect of cardiovascular fitness and self-paced sport practice, in comparison to the sedentary condition, on RT. Our data point to the relevance of considering the type of sport practice over and above the level of cardiovascular fitness as crucial factor to explain the positive association between the regular practice of exercise and vigilance capacity.

Effects of Sleep Restriction on Self-Reported Putting Performance in Golf

“…Another possible explanation is that golf putting is a self-paced task that is different from externally paced sports, such as football or basketball. As previous studies using psychomotor vigilance tests found that externally paced sports required shorter reaction times than self-paced sports (Ballester et al, 2018; Sanabria et al, 2019), our participants’ self-paced performance may have been more resistant to decreased vigilance owing to sleepiness. As our study showed the effect of just one night of SR, we might expect still greater relationships between chronic sleep loss, especially related to jet lag manifested in elite golfers, and performance; and future empirical research should address this possibility.…”

Reproducibility of Physiological Variables of the Six-Minute Walk Test in Healthy Students

“…Among the physiological variables, oxygen consumption is interpreted in the literature as the main index of aerobic fitness during exercise. 26 In view of this, in Pediatrics, the study by Bos et al 27 used VO 2 peak to determine the level of physical activity and the aerobic fitness of children aged 6 to 12 undergoing liver transplantation. The assessment consisted of the gas analysis measured using the cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET), considered the gold standard for this assessment.…”

Attentional Differences as a Function of Rock Climbing Performance

“…Further, it has also been proposed that nonathletes with a high CRF may have a better ability to allocate attentional resources over time compared to nonathletes with a low CRF during a sustained attention task ( Ciria et al, 2017 ). Further, Sanabria et al (2019) speculated that the relationship between CRF and sustained attention may be dependent on the type of sport being conducted. Given that rock climbing has been shown to independently have both a high CRF ( Fryer et al, 2017 ) and a high attention demand ( Bourdin et al, 1998 ; Green and Helton, 2011 ), CRF may be a physiological mediator that could at least in part explain on-sight and red-point ability.…”