Neural basis for reduced executive performance with hypoxic exercise

&NA; While accumulating evidence suggests positive effects of exercise on executive function, such effects vary with environment. In particular, exercise in a hypoxic environment (hypobaric or normobaric hypoxia), leading to decreased oxygen supply, may dampen or cancel such effects. Thus, we further explore the relation between the effects of hypoxic exercise on executive function and their underlying neural mechanisms by monitoring changes of cortical activation patterns using functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Fifteen healthy participants performed color‐word Stroop tasks (CWST) before and after a 10 min bout of moderate‐intensity exercise (50%&OV0312;O2peak) under normoxic and hypoxic conditions (fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) = 0.135). During the CWST, we monitored prefrontal activation using fNIRS. CWST performance under hypoxic conditions decreased compared with normoxic conditions. In addition, CWST‐related activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was reduced after a bout of hypoxic exercise. There was statistically significant association between decreased CWST performance and activation in the left DLPFC. These results suggest that moderate exercise under normobaric hypoxic conditions has negative effects on executive function by reducing task‐related activations in the DLPFC. HighlightsWe examined acute effects of hypoxic exercise on executive function using CWST.We examined cortical hemodynamic effects of hypoxic exercise on cognition by fNIRS.Compared to normoxic, moderately hypoxic exercise lowered cognitive performance.CWST‐related activation in the l‐DLPFC was reduced after hypoxic exercise.Reduced cognitive performance and l‐DLPFC activation were associated.

[1]  Masako Okamoto,et al.  Three-dimensional probabilistic anatomical cranio-cerebral correlation via the international 10–20 system oriented for transcranial functional brain mapping , 2004, NeuroImage.

[2]  S. Goodall,et al.  Supraspinal fatigue after normoxic and hypoxic exercise in humans , 2012, The Journal of physiology.

[3]  E. Watanabe,et al.  Spatial and temporal analysis of human motor activity using noninvasive NIR topography. , 1995, Medical physics.

[4]  Archana K. Singh,et al.  Spatial registration of multichannel multi-subject fNIRS data to MNI space without MRI , 2005, NeuroImage.

[5]  Arthur W. Toga,et al.  Construction of a 3D probabilistic atlas of human cortical structures , 2008, NeuroImage.

[6]  Masahiro Kokubu,et al.  Reaction time to peripheral visual stimuli during exercise under hypoxia. , 2010, Journal of applied physiology.

[7]  Ting-Yim Lee,et al.  Near-infrared spectroscopy measurements of cerebral blood flow and oxygen consumption following hypoxia-ischemia in newborn piglets , 2006 .

[8]  A. Villringer,et al.  Beyond the Visible—Imaging the Human Brain with Light , 2003, Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.

[9]  Frithjof Kruggel,et al.  Age dependency of the hemodynamic response as measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy , 2003, NeuroImage.

[10]  Masako Okamoto,et al.  Automated cortical projection of head-surface locations for transcranial functional brain mapping , 2005, NeuroImage.

[11]  R. Kawashima,et al.  Neurovascular Uncoupling under Mild Hypoxic Hypoxia: An EEG–fMRI Study in Rats , 2012, Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.

[12]  G. Borg.  Perceived exertion as an indicator of somatic stress. , 2019, Scandinavian journal of rehabilitation medicine.

[13]  Ippeita Dan,et al.  Positive effect of acute mild exercise on executive function via arousal-related prefrontal activations: An fNIRS study , 2014, NeuroImage.

[14]  D. Delpy,et al.  Methods of quantitating cerebral near infrared spectroscopy data. , 1988, Advances in experimental medicine and biology.

[15]  I. Johnsrude,et al.  The problem of functional localization in the human brain , 2002, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[16]  Ippeita Dan,et al.  Spatial registration for functional near-infrared spectroscopy: From channel position on the scalp to cortical location in individual and group analyses , 2014, NeuroImage.

[17]  Nicholas Gant,et al.  Acute hypoxic gas breathing severely impairs cognition and task learning in humans , 2015, Physiology & Behavior.

[18]  Lee Taylor,et al.  The Impact of Different Environmental Conditions on Cognitive Function: A Focused Review , 2016, Front. Physiol..

[19]  Bernice W. Polemis.  Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences , 1959 .

[20]  Masako Okamoto,et al.  Mapping of optical pathlength of human adult head at multi-wavelengths in near infrared spectroscopy. , 2010, Advances in experimental medicine and biology.

[21]  Frithjof Kruggel,et al.  Near‐infrared spectroscopy can detect brain activity during a color–word matching Stroop task in an event‐related design , 2002, Human brain mapping.

[22]  S Zeger,et al.  Comparison of Cerebrovascular Response to Hypoxic and Carbon Monoxide Hypoxia in Newborn and Adult Sheep , 1984, Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.

[23]  Ippeita Dan,et al.  A transferable high-intensity intermittent exercise improves executive performance in association with dorsolateral prefrontal activation in young adults , 2018, NeuroImage.

[24]  M. Décorps,et al.  Regional response of cerebral blood volume to graded hypoxic hypoxia in rat brain. , 2002, British journal of anaesthesia.

[25]  M. Jubeau,et al.  Cerebral perturbations during exercise in hypoxia. , 2012, American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology.

[26]  G. Buela-Casal,et al.  Neuropsychological Functioning Associated with High-Altitude Exposure , 2004, Neuropsychology Review.

[27]  Nicolas Caesar Petersen,et al.  Reduced muscle activation during exercise related to brain oxygenation and metabolism in humans , 2010, The Journal of physiology.

[28]  J. Chmura,et al.  Choice Reaction Time During Graded Exercise in Relation to Blood Lactate and Plasma Catecholamine Thresholds , 1994, International journal of sports medicine.

[29]  Masako Okamoto,et al.  Virtual spatial registration of stand-alone fNIRS data to MNI space , 2007, NeuroImage.

[30]  I. Dan,et al.  Acute moderate exercise enhances compensatory brain activation in older adults , 2012, Neurobiology of Aging.

[31]  Andrew C. Dimmen,et al.  Effects of acute hypoxia on cerebral and muscle oxygenation during incremental exercise. , 2007, Journal of applied physiology.

[32]  T. McMorris,et al.  Effect of acute hypoxia on cognition: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis , 2017, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[33]  J. Ulatowski,et al.  Cerebral blood flow during hypoxic hypoxia with plasma-based hemoglobin at reduced hematocrit. , 1998, The American journal of physiology.

[34]  C. White,et al.  Effect of hypoxia on cerebrovascular and cognitive function during moderate intensity exercise , 2016, Physiology & Behavior.

[35]  P. Thompson,et al.  ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription , 1995 .

[36]  Ippeita Dan,et al.  The association between aerobic fitness and cognitive function in older men mediated by frontal lateralization , 2016, NeuroImage.

[37]  L. Adams,et al.  Gray matter blood flow change is unevenly distributed during moderate isocapnic hypoxia in humans. , 2008, Journal of applied physiology.

[38]  R. Meyer,et al.  Evaluation of near-infrared spectroscopy under apnea-dependent hypoxia in humans , 2015, Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing.

[39]  Albrecht Schmidt,et al.  Beyond the visible , 2018, Interactions.

[40]  Masako Okamoto,et al.  Acute moderate exercise elicits increased dorsolateral prefrontal activation and improves cognitive performance with Stroop test , 2010, NeuroImage.

[41]  Yosuke Yamada,et al.  Reaction time to peripheral visual stimuli during exercise under normoxia and hyperoxia , 2009, European Journal of Applied Physiology.

[42]  G. Lohmann,et al.  Color-Word Matching Stroop Task: Separating Interference and Response Conflict , 2001, NeuroImage.