Stute Katharina, Hudl Nicole, Stojan Robert, Voelcker-Rehage Claudia
Institute of Human Movement Science and Health, Chemnitz University of Technology, 09126 Chemnitz, Germany.
Department of Neuromotor Behavior and Exercise, Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Muenster, 48149 Muenster, Germany.
Brain Sci. 2020 Nov 3;10(11):813. doi: 10.3390/brainsci10110813.
Numerous studies have reported the beneficial effects of acute exercise on executive functions. Less is known, however, about the effects of exercise on working memory as one subcomponent of executive functions and about its effects on older adults. We investigated the effects of acute moderate-intensity exercise on working memory performance, the respective cortical hemodynamic activation patterns, and the development and persistence of such effects in healthy older adults. Forty-four participants (: 69.18 years ± 3.92; 21 females) performed a letter 2-back task before and at three time points after (post 15 min, post 30 min, and post 45 min) either listening to an audiobook or exercising (15 min; 50% VO-peak). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to assess cortical hemodynamic activation and brain-behavior correlations in the fronto-parietal working memory network. Overall, we found no group differences for working memory performance. However, only within the experimental group, 2-back performance was enhanced 15 min and 45 min post-exercise. Furthermore, 15 min post-exercise frontal activation predicted working memory performance, regardless of group. In sum, our results indicate slight beneficial effects of acute moderate-intensity exercise on working memory performance in healthy older adults. Findings are discussed in light of the cognitive aging process and moderators affecting the exercise-cognition relationship.
众多研究报告了急性运动对执行功能的有益影响。然而，关于运动作为执行功能的一个子成分对工作记忆的影响以及对老年人的影响，我们所知甚少。我们研究了急性中等强度运动对健康老年人工作记忆表现、相应的皮质血流动力学激活模式以及这些影响的发展和持续性。44名参与者（平均年龄：69.18岁±3.92；21名女性）在听有声读物或运动（15分钟；50%最大摄氧量）之前以及之后的三个时间点（运动后15分钟、30分钟和45分钟）进行了字母2-back任务。使用功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）来评估额顶叶工作记忆网络中的皮质血流动力学激活和脑-行为相关性。总体而言，我们发现工作记忆表现没有组间差异。然而，仅在实验组中，运动后15分钟和45分钟时2-back任务的表现有所提高。此外，无论组别如何，运动后15分钟时额叶激活可预测工作记忆表现。总之，我们的结果表明急性中等强度运动对健康老年人的工作记忆表现有轻微的有益影响。我们根据认知老化过程以及影响运动与认知关系的调节因素对研究结果进行了讨论。
