Acute aerobic exercise enhances associative learning in regular exercisers but not in non-regular exercisers
IntroductionPhysical exercise has repeatedly been reported to have advantageous effects on brain functions, including learning and memory formation. However, objective tools to measure such effects are often lacking. Eyeblink conditioning is a well-characterized method for studying the neural basis...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1515682/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850150694630195200 |
|---|---|
| author | Kayleigh D. Gultig Cornelis P. Boele Cornelis P. Boele Lotte E. M. Roggeveen Ting Fang Soong Sebastiaan K. E. Koekkoek Chris I. De Zeeuw Chris I. De Zeeuw Henk-Jan Boele Henk-Jan Boele Henk-Jan Boele |
| author_facet | Kayleigh D. Gultig Cornelis P. Boele Cornelis P. Boele Lotte E. M. Roggeveen Ting Fang Soong Sebastiaan K. E. Koekkoek Chris I. De Zeeuw Chris I. De Zeeuw Henk-Jan Boele Henk-Jan Boele Henk-Jan Boele |
| author_sort | Kayleigh D. Gultig |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionPhysical exercise has repeatedly been reported to have advantageous effects on brain functions, including learning and memory formation. However, objective tools to measure such effects are often lacking. Eyeblink conditioning is a well-characterized method for studying the neural basis of associative learning. As such, this paradigm has potential as a tool to assess to what extent exercise affects one of the most basic forms of learning. Until recently, however, using this paradigm for testing human subjects in their daily life was technically challenging. As a consequence, no studies have investigated how exercise affects eyeblink conditioning in humans. Here we hypothesize that acute aerobic exercise is associated with improved performance in eyeblink conditioning. Furthermore, we explored whether the effects of exercise differed for people engaging in regular exercise versus those who were not.MethodsWe conducted a case–control study using a smartphone-based platform for conducting neurometric eyeblink conditioning in healthy adults aged between 18 and 40 years (n = 36). Groups were matched on age, sex, and education level. Our primary outcome measures included the amplitude and timing of conditioned eyelid responses over the course of eyeblink training. As a secondary measure, we studied the amplitude of the unconditioned responses.ResultsAcute exercise significantly enhanced the acquisition of conditioned eyelid responses; however, this effect was only true for regularly exercising individuals. No statistically significant effects were established for timing of the conditioned responses and amplitude of the unconditioned responses.DiscussionThis study highlights a facilitative role of acute aerobic exercise in associative learning and emphasizes the importance of accounting for long-term exercise habits when investigating the acute effects of exercise on brain functioning. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-be882dd1122e4ddabf9b3b97da1c6231 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-be882dd1122e4ddabf9b3b97da1c62312025-08-20T02:26:28ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532025-01-011810.3389/fnbeh.2024.15156821515682Acute aerobic exercise enhances associative learning in regular exercisers but not in non-regular exercisersKayleigh D. Gultig0Cornelis P. Boele1Cornelis P. Boele2Lotte E. M. Roggeveen3Ting Fang Soong4Sebastiaan K. E. Koekkoek5Chris I. De Zeeuw6Chris I. De Zeeuw7Henk-Jan Boele8Henk-Jan Boele9Henk-Jan Boele10Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, NetherlandsDepartment of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, NetherlandsBlinkLab Ltd., Sydney, NSW, AustraliaDepartment of Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, NetherlandsDepartment of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, NetherlandsDepartment of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, NetherlandsDepartment of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, NetherlandsNetherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, NetherlandsDepartment of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, NetherlandsBlinkLab Ltd., Sydney, NSW, AustraliaNeuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United StatesIntroductionPhysical exercise has repeatedly been reported to have advantageous effects on brain functions, including learning and memory formation. However, objective tools to measure such effects are often lacking. Eyeblink conditioning is a well-characterized method for studying the neural basis of associative learning. As such, this paradigm has potential as a tool to assess to what extent exercise affects one of the most basic forms of learning. Until recently, however, using this paradigm for testing human subjects in their daily life was technically challenging. As a consequence, no studies have investigated how exercise affects eyeblink conditioning in humans. Here we hypothesize that acute aerobic exercise is associated with improved performance in eyeblink conditioning. Furthermore, we explored whether the effects of exercise differed for people engaging in regular exercise versus those who were not.MethodsWe conducted a case–control study using a smartphone-based platform for conducting neurometric eyeblink conditioning in healthy adults aged between 18 and 40 years (n = 36). Groups were matched on age, sex, and education level. Our primary outcome measures included the amplitude and timing of conditioned eyelid responses over the course of eyeblink training. As a secondary measure, we studied the amplitude of the unconditioned responses.ResultsAcute exercise significantly enhanced the acquisition of conditioned eyelid responses; however, this effect was only true for regularly exercising individuals. No statistically significant effects were established for timing of the conditioned responses and amplitude of the unconditioned responses.DiscussionThis study highlights a facilitative role of acute aerobic exercise in associative learning and emphasizes the importance of accounting for long-term exercise habits when investigating the acute effects of exercise on brain functioning.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1515682/fullaerobic exerciseacute exerciselearninglifestyleneurophysiologyeyeblink conditioning |
| spellingShingle | Kayleigh D. Gultig Cornelis P. Boele Cornelis P. Boele Lotte E. M. Roggeveen Ting Fang Soong Sebastiaan K. E. Koekkoek Chris I. De Zeeuw Chris I. De Zeeuw Henk-Jan Boele Henk-Jan Boele Henk-Jan Boele Acute aerobic exercise enhances associative learning in regular exercisers but not in non-regular exercisers Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience aerobic exercise acute exercise learning lifestyle neurophysiology eyeblink conditioning |
| title | Acute aerobic exercise enhances associative learning in regular exercisers but not in non-regular exercisers |
| title_full | Acute aerobic exercise enhances associative learning in regular exercisers but not in non-regular exercisers |
| title_fullStr | Acute aerobic exercise enhances associative learning in regular exercisers but not in non-regular exercisers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Acute aerobic exercise enhances associative learning in regular exercisers but not in non-regular exercisers |
| title_short | Acute aerobic exercise enhances associative learning in regular exercisers but not in non-regular exercisers |
| title_sort | acute aerobic exercise enhances associative learning in regular exercisers but not in non regular exercisers |
| topic | aerobic exercise acute exercise learning lifestyle neurophysiology eyeblink conditioning |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1515682/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kayleighdgultig acuteaerobicexerciseenhancesassociativelearninginregularexercisersbutnotinnonregularexercisers AT cornelispboele acuteaerobicexerciseenhancesassociativelearninginregularexercisersbutnotinnonregularexercisers AT cornelispboele acuteaerobicexerciseenhancesassociativelearninginregularexercisersbutnotinnonregularexercisers AT lotteemroggeveen acuteaerobicexerciseenhancesassociativelearninginregularexercisersbutnotinnonregularexercisers AT tingfangsoong acuteaerobicexerciseenhancesassociativelearninginregularexercisersbutnotinnonregularexercisers AT sebastiaankekoekkoek acuteaerobicexerciseenhancesassociativelearninginregularexercisersbutnotinnonregularexercisers AT chrisidezeeuw acuteaerobicexerciseenhancesassociativelearninginregularexercisersbutnotinnonregularexercisers AT chrisidezeeuw acuteaerobicexerciseenhancesassociativelearninginregularexercisersbutnotinnonregularexercisers AT henkjanboele acuteaerobicexerciseenhancesassociativelearninginregularexercisersbutnotinnonregularexercisers AT henkjanboele acuteaerobicexerciseenhancesassociativelearninginregularexercisersbutnotinnonregularexercisers AT henkjanboele acuteaerobicexerciseenhancesassociativelearninginregularexercisersbutnotinnonregularexercisers |