Mild Physical Activity Does Not Improve Spatial Learning in a Virtual Environment
It is well-established that physical exercise in humans improves cognitive functions, such as executive functions, pattern separation, and working memory. It is yet unknown, however, whether spatial learning, long known to be affected by exercise in rodents, is also affected in humans. In order to a...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2020.584052/full |
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doaj-4dd8329328a146f9ac4e5daf83b0dfaf2020-11-25T04:09:09ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532020-11-011410.3389/fnbeh.2020.584052584052Mild Physical Activity Does Not Improve Spatial Learning in a Virtual EnvironmentTavor Ben-Zeev0Tavor Ben-Zeev1Tavor Ben-Zeev2Inbal Weiss3Inbal Weiss4Saar Ashri5Yuval Heled6Itay Ketko7Ran Yanovich8Ran Yanovich9Ran Yanovich10Eitan Okun11Eitan Okun12Eitan Okun13The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelThe Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelThe Paul Feder Alzheimer's Disease Research Laboratory, Ramat Gan, IsraelThe Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelThe Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelThe Institute of Military Physiology, Israeli Defense Forces Medical Corps, Ramat Gan, IsraelThe Institute of Military Physiology, Israeli Defense Forces Medical Corps, Ramat Gan, IsraelThe Institute of Military Physiology, Israeli Defense Forces Medical Corps, Ramat Gan, IsraelThe Institute of Military Physiology, Israeli Defense Forces Medical Corps, Ramat Gan, IsraelHeller Institute of Medical Research, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, IsraelDepartment of Military Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, IsraelThe Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelThe Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelThe Paul Feder Alzheimer's Disease Research Laboratory, Ramat Gan, IsraelIt is well-established that physical exercise in humans improves cognitive functions, such as executive functions, pattern separation, and working memory. It is yet unknown, however, whether spatial learning, long known to be affected by exercise in rodents, is also affected in humans. In order to address this question, we recruited 20 healthy young male adults (18–30 years old) divided into exercise and control groups (n = 10 in each group). The exercise group performed three sessions per week of mild-intensity aerobic exercise for 12 weeks, while the control group was instructed not to engage in any physical activity. Both groups performed maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) tests to assess their cardiovascular fitness at baseline and every 4 weeks through the 12 weeks of the training program. The effects of mild aerobic exercise were tested on performance in two different virtual reality (VR)-based spatial learning tasks: (1) virtual Morris water maze (VMWM) and (2) virtual Radial arm water maze (VRAWM). Subjects were tested in both tasks at baseline prior to the training program and at the end of 12 weeks training program. While the mild-intensity aerobic exercise did not affect subjects' VO2max parameters, mean time to anaerobic threshold increased for the exercise group compared with control. No effect was observed, however, on performance in the VMWM or VRAWM between the two groups. Based on these results, we suggest that mild-intensity aerobic exercise does not improve spatial learning and memory in young, healthy adults.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2020.584052/fullspatial learningexerciseVO2maxrespiratory exchange ratevirtual realityphysical activity |
| collection |
DOAJ |
| language |
English |
| format |
Article |
| sources |
DOAJ |
| author |
Tavor Ben-Zeev Tavor Ben-Zeev Tavor Ben-Zeev Inbal Weiss Inbal Weiss Saar Ashri Yuval Heled Itay Ketko Ran Yanovich Ran Yanovich Ran Yanovich Eitan Okun Eitan Okun Eitan Okun |
| spellingShingle |
Tavor Ben-Zeev Tavor Ben-Zeev Tavor Ben-Zeev Inbal Weiss Inbal Weiss Saar Ashri Yuval Heled Itay Ketko Ran Yanovich Ran Yanovich Ran Yanovich Eitan Okun Eitan Okun Eitan Okun Mild Physical Activity Does Not Improve Spatial Learning in a Virtual Environment Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience spatial learning exercise VO2max respiratory exchange rate virtual reality physical activity |
| author_facet |
Tavor Ben-Zeev Tavor Ben-Zeev Tavor Ben-Zeev Inbal Weiss Inbal Weiss Saar Ashri Yuval Heled Itay Ketko Ran Yanovich Ran Yanovich Ran Yanovich Eitan Okun Eitan Okun Eitan Okun |
| author_sort |
Tavor Ben-Zeev |
| title |
Mild Physical Activity Does Not Improve Spatial Learning in a Virtual Environment |
| title_short |
Mild Physical Activity Does Not Improve Spatial Learning in a Virtual Environment |
| title_full |
Mild Physical Activity Does Not Improve Spatial Learning in a Virtual Environment |
| title_fullStr |
Mild Physical Activity Does Not Improve Spatial Learning in a Virtual Environment |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Mild Physical Activity Does Not Improve Spatial Learning in a Virtual Environment |
| title_sort |
mild physical activity does not improve spatial learning in a virtual environment |
| publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
| series |
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| issn |
1662-5153 |
| publishDate |
2020-11-01 |
| description |
It is well-established that physical exercise in humans improves cognitive functions, such as executive functions, pattern separation, and working memory. It is yet unknown, however, whether spatial learning, long known to be affected by exercise in rodents, is also affected in humans. In order to address this question, we recruited 20 healthy young male adults (18–30 years old) divided into exercise and control groups (n = 10 in each group). The exercise group performed three sessions per week of mild-intensity aerobic exercise for 12 weeks, while the control group was instructed not to engage in any physical activity. Both groups performed maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) tests to assess their cardiovascular fitness at baseline and every 4 weeks through the 12 weeks of the training program. The effects of mild aerobic exercise were tested on performance in two different virtual reality (VR)-based spatial learning tasks: (1) virtual Morris water maze (VMWM) and (2) virtual Radial arm water maze (VRAWM). Subjects were tested in both tasks at baseline prior to the training program and at the end of 12 weeks training program. While the mild-intensity aerobic exercise did not affect subjects' VO2max parameters, mean time to anaerobic threshold increased for the exercise group compared with control. No effect was observed, however, on performance in the VMWM or VRAWM between the two groups. Based on these results, we suggest that mild-intensity aerobic exercise does not improve spatial learning and memory in young, healthy adults. |
| topic |
spatial learning exercise VO2max respiratory exchange rate virtual reality physical activity |
| url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2020.584052/full |
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