Chen Rongrong, Wang Shilei, Fan Yajun, Liu Xianfa, Wang Jinhui, Lv Yating, Wang Dongmin, Wu Dong, Cao Wentian, Zou Qihong
Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, China.
Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institution of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, China.
Cereb Cortex. 2023 Mar 10;33(6):2969-2981. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhac254.
The potential for acute exercise to enhance attention has been discussed in the literature. However, the neural mechanisms by which acute exercise affects attention remain elusive.
In this study, we first identified an optimized acute Tai Chi Chuan (ATCC) exercise protocol that enhances sustained attention performance and then aimed to determine the neural substrates of exercise-enhanced attention. Reaction time (RT) from the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) was used to evaluate sustained attention. In Experiment 1, improvements in RTs were compared among six different exercise protocols. In Experiment 2, the participants completed the PVT in an MRI scanner on both rest and exercise days.
Experiment 1 showed that practicing TCC 3 times for a total of 20 minutes, followed by 10-minute rest periods, resulted in the largest improvements in RTs. Experiment 2 showed that ATCC enhanced sustained attention, as evidenced by shorter RTs, and resulted in greater cuneus/precuneus activation after exercise than in the rest condition. Exercise-induced changes in brain activities across a distributed network exhibited significant correlations with attention.
Therefore, this study indicates that ATCC effectively enhances sustained attention and underscores the key role of the cuneus/precuneus and frontoparietal-cerebellar regions in facilitating vigilance among young adults.
文献中已讨论过急性运动增强注意力的可能性。然而，急性运动影响注意力的神经机制仍不清楚。
在本研究中，我们首先确定了一种优化的急性太极拳（ATCC）运动方案，该方案可提高持续注意力表现，然后旨在确定运动增强注意力的神经基础。使用心理运动警觉测试（PVT）中的反应时间（RT）来评估持续注意力。在实验1中，比较了六种不同运动方案的RT改善情况。在实验2中，参与者在休息日和运动日都在MRI扫描仪中完成了PVT。
实验1表明，进行3次太极拳练习，每次20分钟，随后休息10分钟，RT改善最大。实验2表明，ATCC增强了持续注意力，表现为RT更短，并且运动后楔叶/楔前叶的激活程度高于休息状态。运动引起的分布式网络中大脑活动的变化与注意力表现出显著相关性。
因此，本研究表明ATCC有效地增强了持续注意力，并强调了楔叶/楔前叶和额顶叶 - 小脑区域在促进年轻人警觉性方面的关键作用。
