The Impact Of Exercise Intervention On Cognitive Flexibility And Brain Function Network Topological Property In College Students

Objective:To explore the effects of exercise intervention on cognitive flexibility and brain function network topological property of college students,and further reveal the relationship between exercise intervention,improvement of cognitive flexibility and change of topological properties of brain function network.This study aims to explore the mechanism of exercise intervention on college students’ cognitive flexibility,and to enrich the related knowledge and theoretical system of sports on college students’ cognitive flexibility as well as provide a reliable basis for guiding the reform and improvement of college physical education courses.Methods:In this study,93 college students aged 18-20 years were divided into control group(N=51)and experimental group(N=42)according to voluntary principle.The experimental group was given aerobic exercise intervention for 9 weeks,while the control group was given routine daily life.The changes of cognitive flexibility of college students before and after 9-week aerobic exercise were evaluated by the More-odd shifting task,using magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)techniques and graph theory,the changes of the topological properties of the brain functional network of each group of college students were evaluated before and after 9-week aerobic exercise intervention.Results:(1)Exercise intervention significantly improved the response time of college students under the More-odd shifting including the cognitive switching task[F(1,91)=28.977,P<0.001,partial η2=0.244].(2)Exercise intervention significantly improved the characteristic path length(λ)[F(1,91)=5.434,P=0.022<0.05,partial η2=0.057],global efficiency(Eg)[F(1,91)=5.429,P=0.022<0.05,partial η2=0.057]and significant differences were found in nodal clustering coefficient of right hemisphere superior frontal gyrus,medial orbital[F(1,91)=4.240,P=0.042<0.05,partial η2=0.045],left hemisphere median cingulate and paracingulate gyri[F(1,91)=4.497,P=0.037<0.05,partial left hemisphere lenticular nucleus,putamen[F(1,91)=4.092,P=0.046<0.05,partial η2=0.043],right hemisphere lenticular nucleus,putamen[F(1,91)=5.360,P=0.023<0.05,partial η2=0.056],right hemisphere thalamus[F(1,91)=4.807,P=0.031<0.05,partial η2=0.051],left hemisphere superior temporal gyrus[F(1,91)=9,010,P=0.003<0.05,partial η2=0.091]of 18-20-year-old college students.(3)The difference of response time of More-odd shifting including the cognitive switching task was negatively correlated with the difference of global efficiency(r=-0.380,P<0.001),and positively correlated with the difference of nodal clustering coefficient of left hemisphere superior temporal gyrus(r=0.270,P=0.009<0.05).Conclusions:(1)Exercise intervention can improve the cognitive flexibility of college student.The task performance with cognitive switching module can be improved,but the task performance without cognitive switching module can not be significantly improved;(2)Exercise intervention can promote the plasticity of the topological properties of the brain function network of college students;(3)The improvement of cognitive flexibility induced by exercise intervention is related to the improvement of global efficiency and the change of clustering coefficient of left superior temporal gyrus nodes,the mechanism may involve the plasticity of the topological properties of the brain functional network of college students.