Walking, Running, Swimming: An Analysis of the Effects of Land and Water Aerobic Exercises on Cognitive Functions and Neural Substrates (original) (raw)
Related papers
2011
48 This is a brief review of current evidence for the relationships between physical activity and exercise and 49 the brain and cognition throughout the lifespan, in non-pathological populations. We focus on the effects 50 of both aerobic and resistance training, and provide a brief overview of potential neurobiological 51 mechanisms derived from non-human animal models. Whereas research has focused primarily on the 52 benefits of aerobic exercise in youth and young adult populations, there is growing evidence that both 53 aerobic and resistance training are important for maintaining cognitive and brain health in old age. 54 Finally, in these contexts, we point out gaps in the literature and future directions that will help advance 55 the field of exercise neuroscience, including more studies that explicitly examine the effect of exercise 56 type and intensity on cognition, the brain, and clinically significant outcomes. There is also a need for 57 human neuroimaging studies to adop...
Be smart, exercise your heart: exercise effects on brain and cognition
Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2008
| An emerging body of multidisciplinary literature has documented the beneficial influence of physical activity engendered through aerobic exercise on selective aspects of brain function. Human and non-human animal studies have shown that aerobic exercise can improve a number of aspects of cognition and performance. Lack of physical activity, particularly among children in the developed world, is one of the major causes of obesity. Exercise might not only help to improve their physical health, but might also improve their academic performance. This article examines the positive effects of aerobic physical activity on cognition and brain function, at the molecular, cellular, systems and behavioural levels. A growing number of studies support the idea that physical exercise is a lifestyle factor that might lead to increased physical and mental health throughout life. 58 | jANUARy 2008 | volUME 9 www.nature.com/reviews/neuro PErsPEcTivEs
Exercise and cognitive function
1994
Journal of Clinical Medicine was specifically dedicated to research evaluating the effects of exercise on cognitive function. This Special Issue published 23 articles dedicated to this topic (Table 1). These studies evaluated a variety of cognitive outcomes, including, for example, executive function, episodic memory, emotional memory, motor memory, and false memory. Various biological and structural correlates of cognition were evaluated, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and brain gray matter volume. Additionally, the evaluated exercise protocols varied, including, for example, acute exercise bouts, exergaming, comparison of different modalities of exercise (e.g., open-vs. closed-skilled exercise), and chronic exercise training. Several interesting findings were observed from this collective body of work. As an example, Chen et al. [2] evaluated the potential dose-response relationship between acute exercise duration and executive function. They observed that a 20 min bout of moderate-intensity treadmill exercise was effective in enhancing aspects of executive function. Other related research has demonstrated that this exercise duration is also associated with improved memory function [3-6], with the post-exercise recovery period also potentially moderating this effect [7]. Several of the papers published in this Special Issue also provide insights into the underlying mechanisms through which exercise may influence cognition. For example, Hsieh et al. [8] provided evidence that the N450 ERP may be a potential neural correlate through which acute exercise may influence executive function. Relatedly, Winneke et al. [9] demonstrated that moderate-intensity acute exercise sped up neural markers of stimulus evaluation during attentional control processes. Furthermore, in alignment with recent work suggesting that the complexity of the movement pattern may influence cognition [10], in this Special Issue, Hung et al. [11] demonstrated that open-skilled exercise may have a more pronounced effect on neurotrophic production, which may play a critical role in several sub-cognitive parameters, such as memory function [12,13]. Lastly, this Special Issue also published several review papers highlighting recommendations for future research, such as taking into consideration the potential role of biological sex on the exercise-cognition interaction [14], as well as key methodological considerations when utilizing functional near-infrared spectroscopy technology on this topic [15].
Frontiers in aging neuroscience, 2016
Studies have shown that aerobic exercise has the potential to improve cognition and reduce brain atrophy in older adults. However, the literature is equivocal with regards to the specificity or generality of these effects. To this end, we report results on cognitive function and brain structure from a 6-month training intervention with 60 sedentary adults (64-78 years) randomized to either aerobic training or stretching and toning control training. Cognitive functions were assessed with a neuropsychological test battery in which cognitive constructs were measured using several different tests. Freesurfer was used to estimate cortical thickness in frontal regions and hippocampus volume. Results showed that aerobic exercisers, compared to controls, exhibited a broad, rather than specific, improvement in cognition as indexed by a higher "Cognitive score," a composite including episodic memory, processing speed, updating, and executive function tasks (p = 0.01). There were no ...
Physical activity, brain, and cognition
Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 2015
In this brief review we summarize the promising effects of physical activity and fitness on brain and cognition in children and older adults. Research in children finds that higher fit and more active preadolescent children show greater hippocampal and basal ganglia volume, greater white matter integrity, elevated and more efficient patterns of brain activity, and superior cognitive performance and scholastic achievement. Higher fit and more physically active older adults show greater hippocampal, prefrontal cortex, and basal ganglia volume, greater functional brain connectivity, greater white matter integrity, more efficient brain activity, and superior executive and memory function. Despite these promising results, more randomized trials are needed to understand heterogeneity in response to physical activity, mechanisms, and translation to public policy.
Dose-Response of Aerobic Exercise on Cognition: A Community-Based, Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
PloS one, 2015
Epidemiological studies suggest a dose-response relationship exists between physical activity and cognitive outcomes. However, no direct data from randomized trials exists to support these indirect observations. The purpose of this study was to explore the possible relationship of aerobic exercise dose on cognition. Underactive or sedentary participants without cognitive impairment were randomized to one of four groups: no-change control, 75, 150, and 225 minutes per week of moderate-intensity semi-supervised aerobic exercise for 26-weeks in a community setting. Cognitive outcomes were latent residual scores derived from a battery of 16 cognitive tests: Verbal Memory, Visuospatial Processing, Simple Attention, Set Maintenance and Shifting, and Reasoning. Other outcome measures were cardiorespiratory fitness (peak oxygen consumption) and measures of function functional health. In intent-to-treat (ITT) analyses (n = 101), cardiorespiratory fitness increased and perceived disability decreased in a dose-dependent manner across the 4 groups. No other exercise-related effects were observed in ITT analyses. Analyses restricted to individuals who exercised per-protocol (n = 77) demonstrated that Simple Attention improved equivalently across all exercise groups compared to controls and a dose-response relationship was present for Visuospatial Processing. A clear dose-response relationship exists between exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness. Cognitive benefits were apparent at low doses with possible increased benefits in visuospatial function at higher doses but only in those who adhered to the exercise protocol. An individual's cardiorespiratory fitness response was a better predictor of cognitive gains than exercise dose (i.e., duration) and thus maximizing an individual's cardiorespiratory fitness may be an important therapeutic target for achieving cognitive benefits.
Effects of aerobic physical exercise on cognition
2015
The increasing prevalence of cognitive impairment in older adults is a major concern nowadays. Interventions able to change the natural history of the most common cause of cognitive impairment in older adults, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), are needed. Physical inactivity is considered one of the most important modifiable risk factors for AD. Objective: To review recent evidence on the role of physical exercise (PE) in the older adults cognition. Method:The authors reviewed recent papers about PE and cognition in older adults. Conclusion: Current data indicate that PE is a promising intervention to decrease the risk of cognitive impairment in cognitively normal older subjects and in those with Mild Cognitive Impairment. Controversy still remains about the effect of PE in demented patients, but more recent data is pointing towards a positive effect.
Aerobic exercise effects on cognitive and neural plasticity in older adults NIH Public Access
Older adults frequently experience cognitive deficits accompanied by deterioration of brain tissue and function in a number of cortical and sub-cortical regions. Because of this common finding and the increasing ageing population in many countries throughout the world, there is an increasing interest in assessing the possibility that partaking in or changing certain lifestyles could prevent or reverse cognitive and neural decay in older adults. In this review we critically evaluate and summarise the cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that assess the impact of aerobic exercise and fitness on cognitive performance, brain volume, and brain function in older adults with and without dementia. We argue that 6 months of moderate levels of aerobic activity are sufficient to produce significant improvements in cognitive function with the most dramatic effects occurring on measures of executive control. These improvements are accompanied by altered brain activity measures and increases in prefrontal and temporal grey matter volume that translate into a more efficient and effective neural system. Brain deterioration and cognitive decline are considered common characteristics of ageing. However, it is clear that not everyone experiences senescence at the same rate or to the same degree. Individual differences in the quality of cognitive and brain function in old age suggest that deterioration and decay are neither ubiquitous nor inevitable characteristics of ageing. This begs the following question: what are the factors that explain some of the individual differences in old age, allowing some people to retain cognitive and brain function, while pushing others into a trajectory of decline and decay? In addition to determining individual difference factors, recent interventions demonstrate that cognitive and brain deterioration is not unalterable and that the older adult brain retains some plasticity that can be taken advantage of in order to reverse deterioration and decay that may already be manifest. In this review we summarise research on the effect of aerobic exercise on preventing and reversing cognitive and brain decay in old age and provide practical recommendations for utilising exercise to take advantage of the brain's natural capacity for plasticity. COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIOURAL RESEARCH Ageing is often characterised by deterioration of both white matter and grey matter tissue in the prefrontal, temporal, and parietal cortices with relative sparing of tissue in other regions such as primary motor and visual cortex. 1 Tissue deterioration is often accompanied by decline in cognitive function, with the greatest deficits occurring on measures of executive control