N/A - Cognitive Function and Physical Activity

Question 1

Spirduso concluded ______ about older mens cognitive function

Answer 1

his study concluded that older men who regularly participate in racquet sports had superior cognitive functioning than older men who were not physically active
- since then, hundreds of studies have been done but reviewing the literature is challenging (all reported similar relationships between PA and cognitive function)

Question 2

explain how the literatures examines the effects of SHORT TERM PA

Answer 2

in the acute exercise literature, studies can be further identifed as focusing on the effects of exercise on cognitive performance measured either concurrently with, or following, completion of the exercise bout

Question 3

explain how the literatures examines the effects of CHRONIC EXERCISE

Answer 3

in the chronic literature, researchers have primarily looked at how regular PA affects cognitive performance

Question 4

why is the area of cognitive functioning difficult to research/review

Answer 4

the area is challenging to review because of the multitude of measures of neurocognitive function that has been used

Question 5

what is cognitive functioning

Answer 5

CF refers to multiple mental abilities, including learning, thinking, reasoning, remembering, problem solving, descision making, and attention

Question 6

the literatures findings on acute exercise research

Answer 6

finding suggest that characteristics of the exercise bout (intensity and duration but NOT FREQUENCY) affect cognitive outcomes
- it also has been concluded that moderate-high intensity exercise (40-80% of VO2max) and moderate duration exercise (20-60mins) consistently resulted in improved visual detection, decision making, and problem solving
* if exercise is >60mins then cognitive function tends to suffer because people tend to get fatigued, dehydrated, which both impact CF

Question 7

which physiological response from acute exercise has been shown to be the driving force for CF

Answer 7

1. acute exercise may affect CF through regional increase of cerebral blood flow
2. resuearch suggests that acute exercise affects CF via neuroendocrinological changes
3. cerebral structure hypothesis

Question 8

how is CF affected by increases in cerebral blood flow

Answer 8

• cerebral blood flow inc increase up to ~60% of VOCmax after which cerebral flow beigns to fall back towards baseline

Question 9

how do neuroendocrinological changes affect CF

Answer 9

• why are people happier on sunny days? seratonin increases; same idea. acute exercise increases neurotransmitters (norepinephrine, dopamine, seratonin) and neurotransmitters are important in cognitive function

Question 10

explain the cerebral structure hypothesis

Answer 10

CSH suggests that individuals experience decreases in gray and white matter (neurons) as they age
- age related cerebral tissue loss begins at about age 30
- research suggests that less brain tissue decline was associated with higher levels of physical activity
* as rates of PA goes up, rate of decline goes down; you have more brain cells and your cognitive function will be better