HOW DOES EXERCISE BENEFIT COGNITION AND EMOTION?

The role of physical fitness on brain structure and function during childhood

Irene Esteban-Cornejo

University of Granada, Spain

Abstract: Using data from a Spanish study of children with overweight/obesity (i.e., ActiveBrains Project), we examined how different components of physical fitness (i.e., cardiorespiratory fitness, motor fitness and muscular strength) associate with brain structure (global and regional gray matter volume, surface and cortical thickness, global and regional white matter volume, and global and regional white matter microstructure) and brain function (hippocampal functional connectivity), and whether these associations had academic implications. 

Our findings highlight physical fitness components seem to selectively influence brain structure and function, coupled with academic implications in children with overweight/obesity. Specifically, cardiorespiratory and motor fitness were associated with greater gray matter tissue of numerous cortical and subcortical brain structures, and better hippocampal functional connectivity; however, muscular strength seems to be the fitness component more susceptible and selective to influence white matter, but not gray matter indicators. This presentation will guide future studies on fitness and brain health during childhood.

The Associations between Accelerometer-measured Sedentary Time, Behavioral and Neurofunctional Correlates of Cognitive Control in Young and Middle-aged Adults

D. M. Pindus,^1,2,3C. G. Edwards,⁴ A. M. Walk,⁵ C.E. Zwilling,² T. Talukdar,² E.D. Anderson,^2,6 J. S. Jarret,⁶, H.S. Schwarb,^2,7 G. Reeser,¹ N. A. Burd,^1,8 H. D. Holscher,^8,9 N.J. Cohen,^2,6,7 A.K. Barbey,^2,6 A.F. Kramer,^2,10, C.H. Hillman,^10,11 & N. A. Khan^1,3,8,9 

¹Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
²Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
³Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
⁴Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 
⁵Department of Psychology, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, USA
⁶Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
⁷Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
⁸Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
⁹Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
¹⁰Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
¹¹Department of Physical Therapy, Movement, & Rehabilitation Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

Abstract: Epidemiological evidence suggests that sedentary behaviors (e.g., TV viewing, driving) may contribute to poorer cognitive control. However, the relationships between sensor-measured sedentary behavior duration, cognitive control, and its neurofunctional correlates remain poorly understood. We will present evidence on the associations between accelerometer-measured sedentary time (ST), behavioral and neurofunctional correlates of cognitive control in two populations of young and middle-aged adults. We will discuss opposing associations between ST and susceptibility to resistance to framing (a correlate of cognitive control) in young, aerobically fit adults using the baseline data from the INSIGHT trial (NCT02780739). We will show how functional connectivity of the dorsal attention network at rest, measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging, may contribute to these relationships. Second, we will present evidence suggesting that ST may contribute to inhibitory control deficits in young and middle-aged adults with overweight and obesity using baseline data from Persea Americana for total health trial (NCT02740439). We will complement our behavioral findings with neuroelectric results (event-related brain potentials), suggesting attenuated neural efficiency with higher ST in adults with overweight and obesity. The presented findings will highlight potential behavioral and neurofunctional pathways that may contribute to decreased cognitive performance in sedentary young and middle-aged individuals.

Unraveling neural mechanisms underlying exercise-mood relationships in young healthy adults using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Angelika Maurer

Clinical Functional Imaging, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Abstract: While it has already been shown that exercise can have beneficial effects on mood and even symptoms of psychiatric disorders, we are still in the early stages of understanding which neural mechanisms drive these effects. Therefore, investigating acute and long-term exercise interventions on affective processing using modern imaging techniques like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be particularly fruitfull for unraveling the neural mechanisms underlying exercise-induced affective changes. An overview will be provided of acute and long-term exercise intervention studies using structural and functional (task-based and resting-state) MR imaging focusing on affective modulation. The presented results highlight underlying brain mechanisms mediating exercise-mood relationships in healthy young adults.

The power of human fear. Observations from human-human and human-rat studies on social transmission of threat

Tomasz S. Ligeza¹, Marcin Maciejczyk², Miroslaw Wyczesany¹, Markus Junghoefer^3,4

¹Psychophysiology Laboratory, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
²Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, University of Physical Education, Kraków, Poland
⁴Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal analysis, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany
⁴Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany

Abstract: This presentation will continue the considerations of possible brain mechanisms in which exercise improves mood. The main focus will be on exercise-induced changes in the processing of emotional stimuli and abilities to control emotions after exercise and across people of different physical activity levels. The presented brain outputs are acquired using EEG / MEG measures and concern healthy and depressed young adults. Positive changes in the brain's response to emotional stimuli, as well as changes in effective connectivity patterns across structures involved in mood regulation, will be proposed as possible mechanisms in which exercise benefits mood.