Electrophysiological assessment of cognitive processes in young healthy adults with different level of physical activity.

Aim: Physical activity has been promoted as a factor that has beneficial influence on brain functions, including cognition. The aim of this study was to detect whether subjects with different levels of physical activity (PA) have different electrophysiological response during cognitive paradigm that includes the processes of expectation, attention and learning.

Material And Methods: The study comprised 100 subjects, aged between 17 and 28 years, who were divided into three groups according to the level of general physical activity: with low, moderate and high level of PA. Electroexpectogram (EXG) paradigm is a dynamic CNV paradigm in which the registered evoked potential is a neurophysiological measure of the level of attention and cognitive performance during the paradigm. Parameters derived from these tests are the general EXG parameters that refer to the entire paradigm (number of EXG cycles, maximal and minimal amplitude of the CNV potential and reaction time) and specific EXG parameters that refer to the characteristics of each and every EXG cycle, their amplitude and duration (expressed in number of trials).

Results: Subjects with high and moderate level of PA created EXG curves with a greater number of cycles than subjects with a low level of PA. The mean value of the number of created EXG cycles (Low PA = 2.27; moderate PA = 2.73; high PA = 3.8) and maximal amplitude of CNV (Low PA = 9.42 microV; moderate PA = 10.3 microV; high PA = 10.43 microV) was not statistically significant in subjects with different level of PA. The participants with a high and a moderate level of PA showed a distinct tendency of decreasing the dimensions of the EXG cycles: after the long and high first cycle, all subsequent cycles gradually shortened in duration (number of trials) and in height (CNV amplitude). The results of this investigation have emphasized the specific EXG parameters as sensitive indices for successful cognitive adaptation in a dynamic electrophysiological setting created by the EXG paradigm.