6
The Effects of Long-term Exercise on Cerebral Function and the Maintenance of Concentration in the Elderly
Authors: Shukoh Haga, Takuya Sakurai*, Shogo Sato, Michiko Sasahara, Fumio Aita, Kazuki Esaki, Koji Toshinai, Etsuo Ueya, Noboru Hashimoto, Junetsu Ogasawara,Takako Kizaki, Yoshinaga Ishibashi,Tomonobu Sakurai, Shuji Oh-ishi, Hideki Ohno and Eimatsu Takakuwa
Number of views: 316
The purpose of this study was to clarify the effect of long-term
exercise on the maintenance of concentration, as an indicator of
the activity level of the cerebral cortex, and on the Profile of Mood
States (POMS) in healthy elderly persons. Forty-six subjects were
divided into three groups: a long-term exercise group (LTE-G) of
21 subjects (mean age: 67 years); a health exercise group (HE-G)
of 12 subjects (mean age: 69 years); and a sedentary control group
(SC-G) of 13 subjects (mean age: 70 years). We assessed the target
aiming function (TAF), the POMS, and the presence in the urine of
the following compounds: 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG)
and acrolein (ACR) as indicators of oxidative stress; adrenaline,
noradrenaline, and dopamine as indicators of sympathetic nervous
activity. The mean TAF-L values, which represent the level of mental
concentration, were statistically lower in the LTE-G and HE-G than
in the SC-G. The mean TAF-D values, indicating deviation levels,
were significantly lower in the HE-G than in the SC-G. Total Mood
Disturbance (TMD) scores, which are the scored totals of POMS tests,
and the scores on the “Confusion” factor were clearly lower in the
LTE-G and HE-G than in the SC-G. On the other hand, there were no
significant differences in 8-OHdG, ACR, adrenaline, noradrenaline or
dopamine values among the three groups. These results suggest that
the continuation of exercise improves the cerebral cortical activity,
the maintenance of concentration, and the POMS scores of healthy
elderly persons.
Keywords: Healthy exercise; Long-term exercise; Maintenance
of concentration; Cerebral cortical activity; Profile of Mood States