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Exercise Science Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Exercise Science

Postexercise Executive Function Benefits And Cerebral Blood Flow: In The Lab And At Home, Benjamin Tari Nov 2022

Postexercise Executive Function Benefits And Cerebral Blood Flow: In The Lab And At Home, Benjamin Tari

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A single bout of aerobic exercise improves executive function; however, the mechanism, or mechanisms, supporting this improvement remain unclear. One candidate mechanism is an exercise-mediated increase in cerebral blood flow (CBF) that enhances the efficiency of executive-related frontoparietal networks. To evaluate the link between exercise, CBF and executive function, three separate experiments were conducted. In the first study, separate 10-min sessions of moderate-to-heavy-intensity aerobic exercise, and a hypercapnic environment (i.e., 5% CO2) were implemented. The hypercapnic condition was included because it increases CBF independent of the metabolic demands of exercise. The second study investigated whether exercise intensity-specific changes …


Exercise As A Treatment For Cognitive Decline In Older Adults: The Role Of Growth Factors And Inflammatory Cytokines, Joshua A. Titus Dec 2021

Exercise As A Treatment For Cognitive Decline In Older Adults: The Role Of Growth Factors And Inflammatory Cytokines, Joshua A. Titus

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the effects that exercise modalities have on neurotrophic and inflammatory blood markers and cognitive outcomes in older adults. A systematic review and meta-analysis were completed. The included studies illustrated that most of the literature evaluated the effect of aerobic exercise interventions on systemic concentrations of the blood marker brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The review found that aerobic exercise increases BDNF and resistance training increases insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Interventions with sex-specific cohorts presented advantages in males for blood marker and cognitive outcomes compared to females. One of three included interventions decreased …


Oculomotor Task-Switching Performance Improves And Persists Following A Single Bout Of Aerobic Exercise, Diksha Shukla Apr 2020

Oculomotor Task-Switching Performance Improves And Persists Following A Single Bout Of Aerobic Exercise, Diksha Shukla

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Executive function includes the core components of response inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Interestingly, an accumulating evidence has reported that inhibitory control and working memory improve following a single bout of exercise. It is, however, largely unclear whether cognitive flexibility elicits a similar post-exercise benefit. Accordingly, Chapter Two of my thesis examined whether 20-min of aerobic exercise provides an immediate post-exercise ‘boost’ to cognitive flexibility. Chapter Three examined for how long a putative post-exercise benefit persists. Cognitive flexibility was examined via an AABB task-switching paradigm wherein participants alternated between a well-practiced and a novel oculomotor task pre- and post-exercise. …


Resedent Study- Reducing Sedentary Behaviour May Slow Cognitive Decline In Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Study, Kirsten B. Dillon Jul 2019

Resedent Study- Reducing Sedentary Behaviour May Slow Cognitive Decline In Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Study, Kirsten B. Dillon

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Physical activity (PA) has been shown to slow down dementia. Unfortunately, older adults spend most of their day in sedentary behaviours (SB). Breaking up prolonged bouts of sitting with intermittent bouts of light intensity PA may reduce glycemic variability in the brain; potentially mitigating cognitive decline. This study investigated how interrupting SB with 10 min bouts of light intensity PA 3x a day would affect mild to moderate cognitive impairment progression (primary outcome) in older adults residing in an assisted living facility. Participants (n=25) were assigned in clusters into a two arm 10-week single site pilot randomized controlled trial. Secondary …