Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Estado de México, México.
Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Querétaro, México.
PLoS One. 2020 Sep 29;15(9):e0239727. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239727. eCollection 2020.
Older adults have difficulties in sentence comprehension when working memory (WM) load increases (e.g., multiple embedded clauses). Structured physical activity has been related to improvements in cognition; however, incidental physical activity (PA, i.e., unstructured daily physical activities), particularly incidental vigorous activity has been poorly studied in relation to its effects on behavior. Furthermore, no positive effect on language has been reported in either form of physical activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate how two levels of PA (high or low) affect WM processing and how this, in turn, may affect morphosyntactic processing in older adults. Individuals with high PA (n = 18) had a higher WM load effect than those with low PA (n = 18), both behaviorally (greater differences between high and low WM loads in correct responses) and in terms of event-related potentials (only subjects with high PA showed LAN and P600b amplitude differences between high and low WM loads). These findings suggest that PA promotes cognitive strategies to face WM loads and morphosyntactic processing.
老年人在工作记忆（WM）负荷增加时（例如，多个嵌入式子句），在句子理解方面存在困难。有规律的体育活动与认知能力的提高有关；然而，偶然的体育活动（PA，即无组织的日常体育活动），特别是偶然的剧烈活动，与它对行为的影响的关系研究甚少。此外，在这两种形式的体育活动中，都没有报告对语言有积极影响。本研究旨在评估两种 PA 水平（高或低）如何影响 WM 处理，以及这反过来又如何影响老年人的形态句法处理。高 PA 组（n = 18）的 WM 负荷效应高于低 PA 组（n = 18），无论是行为上（在正确反应中，高 WM 负荷和低 WM 负荷之间的差异较大）还是在事件相关电位上（只有高 PA 的受试者在高 WM 负荷和低 WM 负荷之间显示 LAN 和 P600b 幅度差异）。这些发现表明，PA 促进了认知策略来应对 WM 负荷和形态句法处理。
