The influence of a single bout of aerobic exercise on short-interval intracortical excitability

Regular physical activity can have positive effects on brain function and plasticity. Indeed, there is some limited evidence that even a single bout of exercise may promote plasticity within the cortex. However, the mechanisms by which exercise acutely promotes plasticity are not clear. To further e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental brain research Vol. 232; no. 6; pp. 1875 - 1882
Main Authors: Smith, Ashleigh E., Goldsworthy, Mitchell R., Garside, Tessa, Wood, Fiona M., Ridding, Michael C.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2014
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Adult
Aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercises
Aerobics
Analysis of Variance
Bicycles
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Brain
Brain research
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
Changes
Conditioning
Cortex
Electromyography
Evoked Potentials, Motor - physiology
Exercise
Exercise - physiology
Experiments
Female
Females
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Heart rate
Humans
Inhibition
Magnetic brain stimulation
Male
Metabolism
Middle Aged
Motor Cortex - physiology
Neural Inhibition
Neurology
Neuroplasticity
Neurosciences
Physical activity
Physical fitness
Physiological aspects
Plasticity
Questionnaires
Research Article
Resting
Stimulus
Surveys and Questionnaires
Thresholds
Time Factors
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation - methods
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Young Adult
Australia
GABA
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
Short-interval intracortical inhibition
Physical activity
Motor cortex
Physical exercise
Motor pathway
Central nervous system
Excitability
Encephalon
ISSN:0014-4819, 1432-1106, 1432-1106
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Regular physical activity can have positive effects on brain function and plasticity. Indeed, there is some limited evidence that even a single bout of exercise may promote plasticity within the cortex. However, the mechanisms by which exercise acutely promotes plasticity are not clear. To further explore the effects of acute exercise on cortical function, we examined whether a single bout of exercise was associated with changes in cortical excitability and inhibition. Using standard techniques, cortical stimulus–response curves [90 % resting motor threshold (RMT)–150 % RMT] were investigated in nine subjects (four females, 31.1 ± 11.7 years) and short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) [interstimulus interval 2 ms and 3 ms, conditioning intensities of 80 % active motor threshold (AMT) and 90 % AMT] in 13 subjects (six females, 28.4 ± 5.1 years) before and at 0 and 15 min following 30 min of ergometer cycling at low–moderate or moderate–high intensity. There were no changes in cortical excitability following exercise but less SICI at both 0 and 15 min post-exercise ( F [2, 24]  = 7.7, P  = 0.003). These findings show that a short period of exercise can transiently reduce SICI. Such a change in inhibition after exercise may contribute to the development of a cortical environment that would be more optimal for plasticity and may partially explain previous findings of enhanced neuroplasticity following low-intensity exercise.
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ISSN:0014-4819
1432-1106
1432-1106
DOI:10.1007/s00221-014-3879-z