Effects of Physical Exercise on Individual Resting State EEG Alpha Peak Frequency

TLDR

Previous research shows that acute and chronic exercise improves brain function and cognition, yet the neurophysiological mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated how an acute bout of exercise and four weeks of training influence resting‑state EEG alpha peak frequency in healthy young adults. Participants performed steady‑state or exhaustive exercise on separate days, with EEG recorded before, immediately after, and 10 minutes post‑exercise, and the protocol was repeated after four weeks of training to assess fitness effects on iAPF. Intense exhaustive exercise significantly increased iAPF, whereas steady‑state exercise did not, indicating higher arousal after intense activity.

Abstract

Previous research has shown that both acute and chronic physical exercises can induce positive effects on brain function and this is associated with improvements in cognitive performance. However, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of exercise on cognitive processing are not well understood. This study examined the effects of an acute bout of physical exercise as well as four weeks of exercise training on the individual resting state electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha peak frequency (iAPF), a neurophysiological marker of the individual’s state of arousal and attention, in healthy young adults. The subjects completed a steady state exercise (SSE) protocol or an exhaustive exercise (EE) protocol, respectively, on two separate days. EEG activity was recorded for 2 min before exercise, immediately after exercise, and after 10 min of rest. All assessments were repeated following four weeks of exercise training to investigate whether an improvement in physical fitness modulates the resting state iAPF and/or the iAPF response to an acute bout of SSE and EE. The iAPF was significantly increased following EE (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>0</mml:mn><mml:mo>. </mml:mo><mml:mn>012</mml:mn></mml:math>) but not following SSE. It is concluded that the iAPF is increased following intense exercise, indicating a higher level of arousal and preparedness for external input.