Department of Kinesiology, Michigan State University, United States of America.
Department of Kinesiology, Michigan State University, United States of America.
Int J Psychophysiol. 2021 Jul;165:1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.03.007. Epub 2021 Mar 24.
Aerobic fitness is consistently and robustly associated with superior performance on assessments of cognitive control. One potential mechanism underlying this phenomenon is activation of the locus-coeruleus. Specifically, individuals with greater aerobic fitness may be better able to sustain engagement in a cognitively demanding task via a superior ability to meet the metabolic demands of this neural system. Accordingly, the present investigation examined 1) the relationship between aerobic fitness and phasic activation of the locus-coeruleus (indexed using pupillometry) and 2) the potential mediating influence of locus-coeruleus activity on the relationship between aerobic fitness and cognitive task performance. Participants performed an inhibition task while their pupillary responses were measured using an infrared eye tracker. A VO test was then performed to determine individuals' aerobic fitness levels. Consistent with previous research, higher levels of aerobic fitness were related to shorter reaction time. However, phasic activity of the locus-coeruleus did not mediate this relationship - nor did it relate to aerobic fitness level. These results suggest that aerobic fitness does not relate to differences in locus-coeruleus activity in the context of cognitive control in college-aged adults.
有氧健身与认知控制评估中优异的表现始终保持着显著的关联。这一现象背后的一个潜在机制是蓝斑核的激活。具体来说，有氧健身水平较高的个体可能能够通过更好地满足该神经系统的代谢需求，从而更好地维持认知要求高的任务的参与度。因此，本研究考察了 1）有氧健身与蓝斑核的相位激活（通过瞳孔测量法进行评估）之间的关系，以及 2）蓝斑核活动对有氧健身与认知任务表现之间关系的潜在中介影响。参与者在执行抑制任务的同时，使用红外眼动仪测量他们的瞳孔反应。然后进行 VO 测试以确定个体的有氧健身水平。与之前的研究一致，较高的有氧健身水平与更短的反应时间相关。然而，蓝斑核的相位活动并不能介导这种关系——它也与有氧健身水平无关。这些结果表明，在大学生群体中，有氧健身与认知控制背景下蓝斑核活动的差异无关。
