Understanding cognitive performance during exercise in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps: establishing the executive function-exercise intensity relationship
Brandon L. Stone, Madison Beneda-Bender, Duncan L. McCollum, Jong-joo Sun, Joseph H. Shelley, John Ashley, Eugenia Fuenzalida, J. Mikhail Kellawan
Abstract
The executive functioning aspect of cognition was evaluated during graded exercise in Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets. Executive function declined at exercise intensities of ≥80% of heart rate reserve. The decline in executive function was coupled with declines in the oxygenation of the prefrontal cortex, the brain region responsible for executive functioning. These data define the executive function-exercise intensity relationship and provide evidence supporting the reticular activation hypofrontality theory as a model of cognitive change.
Topics & Concepts
CognitionCognitive reservePsychologyPrefrontal cortexExecutive functionsPhysical medicine and rehabilitationPhysical exerciseExercise intensityHeart rateNeuroscienceMedicinePhysical therapyBlood pressureCognitive impairmentInternal medicineHeart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesCognitive Abilities and Testing