Kuwamizu Ryuta, Yamazaki Yudai, Aoike Naoki, Lee Dongmin, Soya Hideaki
Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry and Neuroendocrinology, Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8574, Japan.
Sport Neuroscience Division, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance (ARIHHP), Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8574, Japan.
J Physiol Anthropol. 2025 Apr 14;44(1):10. doi: 10.1186/s40101-025-00390-x.
Acute physical exercise, even at a very-light-intensity, potentiates prefrontal cortex activation and improves executive function. The underlying circuit mechanisms in the brain remain poorly understood, though we speculate a potential involvement of arousal-related neuromodulatory systems. Recently, our rodent study demonstrated that exercise, even at light-intensity, activates the midbrain dopaminergic neurons. Resting-state spontaneous eye blink rate is linked to brain-arousal neural circuits, and potentially to those modulated by dopaminergic system. We hypothesized that neural substrates linked to resting-state eye blink rate contribute to the cognitive impact of acute very-light-intensity exercise.
We analyzed data from a previous study with a renewed focus on resting-state eye blink rate. Twenty-four healthy young adults completed both 10 min of cycling (very-light-intensity exercise: 30% peak oxygen uptake) and rest conditions. Resting-state eye blink rate and Stroop task performance were measured before and after both exercise and resting control.
Results showed no significant differences in eye blink rate changes between conditions. However, correlation analyses revealed that exercise-induced changes in resting-state eye blink rate were significantly associated with individual variations in Stroop task performance enhancement.
Very-light-intensity exercise does not elicit a consistent increase in eye blink rate after exercise. This finding does not support the involvement of a blink increase-linked neural substrate in enhancing executive function through very-light-intensity exercise. However, resting-state eye blink rate that is altered by exercise is predictive of executive function enhancement levels; this may serve as a novel contactless biomarker for predicting exercise benefits for brain health and cognition.
急性体育锻炼，即使是非常低强度的锻炼，也能增强前额叶皮质的激活并改善执行功能。尽管我们推测与觉醒相关的神经调节系统可能参与其中，但大脑中潜在的神经回路机制仍知之甚少。最近，我们对啮齿动物的研究表明，即使是低强度的运动也能激活中脑多巴胺能神经元。静息状态下的自发眨眼率与脑觉醒神经回路有关，可能也与多巴胺能系统调节的神经回路有关。我们假设与静息状态眨眼率相关的神经基质有助于急性极低强度运动的认知影响。
我们重新关注静息状态眨眼率，分析了之前一项研究的数据。24名健康的年轻成年人完成了10分钟的骑行（极低强度运动：峰值摄氧量的30%）和休息条件。在运动和休息对照前后测量静息状态眨眼率和Stroop任务表现。
结果显示不同条件下眨眼率变化无显著差异。然而，相关性分析表明，运动引起的静息状态眨眼率变化与Stroop任务表现增强的个体差异显著相关。
极低强度运动后不会引起眨眼率持续增加。这一发现不支持通过极低强度运动增强执行功能涉及与眨眼增加相关的神经基质。然而，运动引起改变的静息状态眨眼率可预测执行功能增强水平；这可能作为一种新型的非接触生物标志物，用于预测运动对大脑健康和认知的益处。
