Pupil dynamics during very light exercise predict benefits to prefrontal cognition.

ABSTRACT: Physical exercise, even stress-free very-light-intensity exercise such as yoga and very slow running, can have beneficial effects on executive function, possibly by potentiating prefrontal cortical activity. However, the exact mechanisms underlying this potentiation have not been identified. Evidence from studies using pupillometry demonstrates that pupil changes track the real-time dynamics of activity linked to arousal and attention, including neural circuits from the locus coeruleus to the cortex. This makes it possible to examine whether pupil-linked brain dynamics induced during very-light-intensity exercise mediate benefits to prefrontal executive function in healthy young adults. In this experiment, pupil diameter was measured during 10 min of very-light-intensity exercise (30% V˙o<

SUBMITTER: Kuwamizu R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10788147 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature