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Behavioural Brain Research 226 (2012) 473– 480

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Behavioural Brain Research

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Research report

Exercise, mood and cognitive performance in intellectual disability—Aneurophysiological approach

Tobias Vogta,∗, Stefan Schneidera, Vera Abelna, Volker Annekenb, Heiko Klaus Strüdera

a Department of Exercise Neuroscience, Institute of Movement and Neurosciences, German Sport University Cologne, Am Sportpark Müngersdorf 6, 50933 Cologne, Germanyb Research Institute for Inclusion through Physical Activity and Sport, Römerstraße 100, 50226 Frechen, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 21 September 2011Accepted 1 October 2011Available online 15 October 2011

Keywords:ExerciseIntellectual disabilityEEGLORETAMoodCognition

a b s t r a c t

While numerous researches addressed the connection between physical exercise, changes in brain corti-cal activity and its relationship to psycho-physiological processes, most of these neuro-scientific studieswere set up for healthy individuals. However, the benefits of exercise, such as well being, physicaland cognitive health enhancements are also becoming increasingly important for intellectually disabledindividuals.

This study aimed to localize electroencephalographic activity changes in intellectually disabled indi-viduals following a moderate running exercise for 30 min. An increase in cognitive performance and inmood was hypothesized to correlate with a decrease in fronto-temporal brain areas following exercise.

Significant changes in cortical current density in frontal brain areas as well as decreases in perceivedphysical energy could be shown. Overall motivational states (including self-confidence and social accep-tance) as well as positive mood increased significantly. However, no changes could be observed for thecognitive tasks following exercise.

With respect to the data provided here there is reason to believe, that a self-selected pace runningexercise, enhances self-esteem, coincided with cortical activity changes in fronto-temporal brain areas.

© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

The connection between physical exercises, changes in braincortical activity [1,2] and its relationship to mood [3–7] andcognition [8–10] has been addressed in several cases recently.The focus of many of these studies was to investigate the dif-ferent effects of exercise intensities [11], durations [12] as wellas exercise preference levels [4] on neuropsychological changes.Most of these studies were set up for healthy individuals, suchas well-trained athletes, physically active children [5] or elderlypeople [13,14]. However, the benefits of physical exercise, suchas general well being [4], physical [15–17] and cognitive healthenhancements [9], are also becoming increasingly important forintellectually disabled individuals, not only because of a generalincrease in life expectancy [18,19]. Several studies investigatedthe importance of physical exercise to achieve health benefits forintellectually disabled individuals (for an overview, please see Ref.[20] and more recently Ref. [21]) and it has been shown thatphysical exercising seems to contribute to well being in intellec-tually disabled individuals [22]. In addition, there is first evidencethat physical exercising improves cognitive processes, for example

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 221 4982 4230; fax: +49 221 4973 454.E-mail address: t.vogt@dshs-koeln.de (T. Vogt).

reaction time [23], and supports social manners, such as friend-ship [24] in intellectually disabled individuals. However, yet thereis rarely any evidence investigating the neuropsychological cor-relates of physical exercise on intellectually disabled individuals[20,25].

Therefore the aim of our study was to localize changes in braincortical activity in relation to mood and cognition after a moder-ate physical exercise intervention in individuals with intellectualdisability.

Although the use of electroencephalographical (EEG) analysisin the sport and exercise science has been comparatively rare to-date, EEG is a well-established technique, which has been appliedin the field of psychology and clinical research for several decades.There is evidence indicating that a general well being as well ascognitive and recreational processes are associated with specificchanges in electro cortical activity especially in fronto-temporalregions [3,4,8,9,13,26,27]. These findings support Dietrich’s tran-sient hypofrontality hypothesis [28] that suggests a decrease ofneural activity in brain cortical regions that are rather inessentialto performing the exercise.

Today’s technical innovations enable clear EEG recordings,before, after and even during exercise [10,29] and allow, incombination with a localization method (low resolution brain elec-tro magnetic tomography, LORETA), to create mappings of therecorded brain cortical changes [3,30].

0166-4328/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2011.10.015

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Fig. 1. Experimental setup.

In this study we hypothesized that (1) moderate 30 min run-ning of intellectually disabled individuals [20,21,31] would leadto a decrease in cortical activation after exercising, particularly infronto-temporal brain regions. Based on previous results address-ing the connection of physical exercise, mood and cognition[7,9,10], (2) an increase in cognitive performance that is accom-panied by an increase in mood is hypothesized to correlate withthe expected changes in fronto-temporal areas.

To minimize distraction within the participating intellectuallydisabled individuals, we chose a field setting and tried to put as fewlimitations as possible on their running activities [4,13].

2. Material and methods

2.1. Subjects

The Universitys’ Human Research Ethics Committee approved this study. Volun-tarily 12 male individuals (age: 22.50 ± 9.87 years, height: 177.92 ± 6.13 cm, weight:81.50 ± 24.58 kg) participated in this study. Prior to involvement, all participantsattended an informatory meeting. Participants and legal guardians provided writteninformed consent, respectively. According to the HMB-W policy [32,33] includingMetzler’s evaluation of groups with specific needs for care (‘Hilfebedarfsgruppen’[34]) all participants are considered being intellectually disabled. All participants areused to partake in physical exercise programmes (either football or running activi-ties) and are considered being relatively fit. All procedures were in compliance withthe Declaration of Helsinki for human participants.

2.2. Exercise protocol

Following a pre-exercise medical screening, participants underwent a one-timerunning exercise at self-selected [3], moderate pace for 30 min. Individual heartrate was recorded using a mobile heart rate monitor (Suunto, Vantaa, Finland).During each run a study operator accompanied the participants. EEG activity wasrecorded for 3 min sitting in an upright rest position with eyes closed prior to theexercise (EEGpre), immediately after exercising (EEGpostRUN) and after the cognitivetasks (EEGpostCOG). Following the EEGpre and EEGpostRUN recordings, participants com-pleted a paper-pencil mood questionnaire (MOODpre, MOODpostRUN) Fig. 1. Furtherdetails of the EEG recordings as well as the mood assessment and the cognitive tasksare provided below.

2.3. EEG recordings

A 32-channel portable EEG-System (Brain Products, Munich, Germany) was usedfor data acquisition (sampling rate 500 Hz). An EEG-cap that adapted to individualhead size was mounted in the 10–20 system [35] 15 min prior to exercising. TheEEG-cap was built of Ag–AgCl electrodes and one reference electrode (mounted inthe triangle of FP1, FP2 and FZ). EEG activity was recorded on positions FP1, FP2, F7,F3, Fz, F4, F8, FC5, FC1, FC2, FC6, T7, C3, Cz, C4, T8, TP9, CP5, CP1, CP2, CP6, TP10,P7, P3, Pz, P4, P8, PO9, O1, Oz, O2, PO10. The EEG-cap was fixed with a chin stripto prevent shifting during exercise. In order to prevent an increase in heat dur-ing exercise the EEG-cap was permeable to air. Distances between electrodes wereapproximately 5 cm to avert possible cross talk after exercise due to salt bridgesbetween electrodes. Each electrode was filled with SuperViscTM electrode gel (Easy-Cap GmbH, Herrsching, Germany) to optimize signal transduction. We excludedelectrodes from further analysis, if the impedance of an electrode exceeded 10 k�.The analogue signal of the EEG was amplified and converted to digital signals usingBrain Vision Recorder 1.1 Software (Brain Products, Munich, Germany).

2.4. Low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA)

The KEY Institute for Brain-Mind Research provides the low resolution brainelectromagnetic tomography analysis (University Hospital of Psychiatry, Zurich,Switzerland). LORETA enables a spatial identification and analysis of brain corti-cal activity, providing a three-dimensional (3D) localization based on traditionalEEG recordings. This method has been thoroughly described and validated in previ-ous clinical [36–39] and exercise studies [3–5,10,13,29,40,41]. In the present study astandard LORETA transformation was used to localize cortical current density withinspecific regions of interest (ROI, see Section 2.5).

Table 1The MoodMeter® (sub-) dimensions.

MoodMeter® Dimension Sub-dimension

Perceived physicalstate

Perceived physicalstate

Physical energyPhysical fitnessPhysical flexibilityPhysical Health

EZ-scale Psychologicalstrain

RelaxationPositive moodCalmnessRecovery

EZ-scale Motivational state Self-confidenceWillingness to seek contactSocial acceptanceReadiness to strain

2.5. EEG analysis

The EEG was low and high-pass filtered, so that a frequency range from 0.5 to50.0 Hz (notch filter) remained for analysis (time constant 0.0455 s; 24 dB/octave).Data was segmented into 4-s segments, whereby an overlap of 10% was accepted.Following an automatic artefact rejection (gradient < 35 �V; maximum and min-imum amplitude between −100 �V and 100 �V), segmented data was baselinecorrected and analysed by spectral analysis (FFT, resolution 0.244 Hz; Hanning win-dow, 10%).

To determine anatomical regions of interest (ROIs) and the site-specific corticalcurrent density values (�V2/mm4) the build in LORETA transformation of the BrainVision Analyzer software 2.0 was used (Gilching, Germany). A minimum of twenty4-s segments of artefact-free resting EEG was used for the transformation and cal-culation. ROIs researched in this study are known to be located in central areas ofthe frontal lobe: rectal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus and orbitalgyrus. According to the literature, identifying the relevance of medial frontal loberegions in psychological and cognitive processing [42,43], we additionally decided,to specifically define Brodmann areas 11, 25 and 47 as ROIs respectively [44].

2.6. Mood assessment

The MoodMeter® consists of Bodyfinder and Feelfinder modules. The Bodyfinderhas been developed to determine the current perceived physical state (PEPS) in tradi-tionally more bio medically orientated research (e.g., exercise physiology, internalmedicine) and is very sensitive to short term alterations in mood (validated dur-ing the years 2001–2005 on a total of 645 participants; Cronbach alpha intraclasscorrelation coefficient 0.82 and 0.92; [45]). The Feelfinder includes a short form ofthe ‘Eigenzustandsskala’ (EZ-scale [46]). Opposed to other psychological adjectivescales (e.g. POMS) the EZ-scale allows the measurement of not only the emotionalor psychological strain, but also a person’s motivational state. In the present studywe used a short 16-item-form of the EZ-scale developed and validated by Nitsch[46], which forms eight sub-dimensions (Table 1; please see Ref. [45] for a detaileddescription of the development and operating mode of the MoodMeter®).

We used a modified paper-pencil version of the MoodMeter® for the intellectu-ally disabled individuals. It contained two catalogues, each consisting of the same32 adjectives (16 PEPS, 16 EZ-scale) presented in a random order. The first cata-logue was presented before exercising (MOODpre). Catalogue MOODpost was thenpresented following the EEGpostRUN measurement after exercising. It took approx-imately 5 min (5.46 ± 1.15 min) for each catalogue to be completed. Preliminaryinstructions given to the participants were: “Please name, without any hesitation, towhat extent the following adjective applies to your physical state at this moment.”The endpoints of a 6-step ranking scale were anchored (0 = not at all; 5 = totally).Due to relatively slow reading and understanding of the adjectives the original timelimit (4 s per adjective) was excluded.

2.7. Cognitive tasks

The Vienna test system (VTS) is a standardized, computerized psychologicalassessment tool that has been used in sport and exercise science research earlier[47]. The VTS has been determined to assess basic cognitive functions (i.e. alertness,memory consolidation, motor functions) in particular neuropsychological impair-ment. It provides sectional cognitive performance tests that allow for individuallevels of difficulty, referring to the participant’s clinical picture or age for example.

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Fig. 2. Cortical current density changes over time–rectal gyrus.

The cognitive performance tasks used in this study consist of a continuous visualrecognition task (CVR) and a reaction time task (RT). In each task, we chose a levelof difficulty, modified for intellectually disabled individuals (VTS versions: CVR-S6,RT-S1).

The continuous visual recognition task (CVR; Cronbach’s alpha reliability of 0.84)assesses memory performance and cerebral deficits of each individual participant(number of correct recognitions). Its main areas of application are in the fields of neu-ropsychology, clinical and health psychology as well as pedagogical psychology. CVRis based on the decision whether an item is shown for the first time or has alreadybeen presented on screen, following a button to press respectively. According tothe clinical picture of our participants, we chose a total of 100 items, divided intoobjects, simple numbers and letters that were presented in a randomized sequence.It took approximately 4 min for each participant to finish the CVR task.

The reaction time task (RT; Cronbach’s alpha reliability 0.961) records the meanreaction time in milliseconds (ms). The RT covers the areas of alertness, the ability tosuppress an inappropriate reaction, as well as vigilance and intermodal comparison.The main areas of the application for RT are clinical and health psychology, per-sonnel psychology, sport psychology, and educational psychology. For the RT the

participant was instructed to react upon a visual stimulus (appearing and disap-pearing yellow light), following a button to press respectively. Participants wereinstructed to “react as fast and as precise as possible”. Each participant took approx-imately 3 min to finish the RT.

Following EEGpostRUN participants completed the cognitive performance tasks. Inaddition the cognitive performance tasks were conducted under control conditionswithout a running exercise intervention.

2.8. Statistical procedures

All statistical procedures were performed using STATISTICA programme 7.1(StatSoft, Tulsa, USA).

In order to display exercise induced changes in estimated cortical current den-sity, one-way repeated measures of variance (ANOVA) for the factor measurement(EEGpre, EEGpostRUN, EEGpostCOG) was computed for LORETA power values. Fisher’sleast significant difference served as post hoc test. Due to measuring faults only 11out of 12 participants were considered for the statistical procedure of the corticalcurrent density values.

Fig. 3. Cortical current density changes over time–medial frontal gyrus.

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Fig. 4. Cortical current density changes over time–orbital gyrus.

Fig. 5. Cortical current density over time–Brodmann area 11.

Overall MoodMeter® dimensions of PEPS (perceived physical state) and EZ-scale(motivational state and psychological strain) were checked for significant changesusing Wilcoxon paired samples test with the intra-individual factor measurement(MOODpre to MOODpost).

Cognitive performance tests CVR and RT were computed using one-wayrepeated measures of variance (ANOVA) for the factor measurement (intervention,control conditions).

Two-tailed level of significance was set at p < 0.05. Data in the text are presentedas means (∀) ± standard deviation (SD).

3. Results

3.1. Time and heart rate

On average participants ran for 00:30.53 min (±00:00.23 min)at an average heart rate of 154.50 bpm (±14.43 bpm). The aver-age participants’ max heart rate during running was 177.58 bpm(±10.06 bpm).

3.2. Cortical current density

Although frontal lobe values of cortical current density revealedno significant changes (p = 0.76099), cortical current density val-ues of specific frontal lobe areas (ROIs) recorded after exercisingdecreased significantly compared to baseline measurements priorto the exercise: rectal gyrus (p = 0.00507), medial frontal gyrus(p = 0.03249) and orbital gyrus (p = 0.00576) as well as Brodmannarea 11 (p = 0.00709) and Brodmann area 25 (p = 0.03551) (Figs. 2–6,Table 2).

Cortical current density values recorded in the middle frontalgyrus (p = 0.17712) and in Brodmann area 47 (p = 0.69759) revealedno significant changes.

3.3. Mood assessment

Although the overall dimensions perceived physical state showedno significant changes (p > 0.05) within sub-dimension physical

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Fig. 6. Cortical current density changes over time–Brodmann area 25.

energy (p = 0.003346) the recorded values for Moodpost decreasedsignificantly compared to the values recorded for Moodpre (Table 3).

No significant changes were found in the overall dimensionpsychological strain (p > 0.05). However, sub-dimension positivemood (p = 0.046400) revealed a significant increase of the recorded

Table 2Cortical current density changes in ROIs.

Rectal gyrus

Measurement(�V2/mm4) EEGpre EEGpostRun EEGpostCog

EEGpre(∀ 9,21 ± SD 2,68) p = 0.011419* p = 0.002041*

EEGpostRun(∀ 6,37 ± SD 3,47) p = 0.011419* p = 0.457540

EEGpostCog(∀ 5,60 ± SD 2,83) p = 0.002041* p = 0.457540

Medial frontal gyrus

Measurement(�V2/mm4) EEGpre EEGpostRun EEGpostCog

EEGpre(∀ 7,22 ± SD 2,64) p = 0.165346 p = 0.009699*

EEGpostRun(∀ 5,92 ± SD 3,26) p = 0.165346 p = 0.171263

EEGpostCog(∀ 4,64 ± SD 2,80) p = 0.009699* p = 0.171263

Orbital gyrus

Measurement(�V2/mm4) EEGpre EEGpostRun EEGpostCog

EEGpre(∀ 11,95 ± SD 3,21) p = 0.015191* p = 0.002122**

EEGpostRun(∀ 8,08 ± SD 4,32) p = 0.015191* p = 0.394074

EEGpostCog(∀ 6,93 ± SD 3,29) p = 0.002122** p = 0.394074

Brodmann area 11

Measurement(�V2/mm4) EEGpre EEGpostRun EEGpostCog

EEGpre(∀ 5,09 ± SD 1,29) p = 0.020395* p = 0.002469**

EEGpostRun(∀ 3,61 ± SD 1,95) p = 0.020395* p = 0.357443

EEGpostCog(∀ 3,05 ± SD 1,48) p = 0.002469** p = 0.357443

Brodmann area 25

Measurement(�V2/mm4) EEGpre EEGpostRun EEGpostCog

EEGpre(∀ 2,71 ± SD 0,92) p = 0.054887 p = 0.013766*

EEGpostRun(∀ 1,98 ± SD 1,22) p = 0.054887 p = 0.515892

EEGpostCog(∀ 1,74 ± SD 1,07) p = 0.013766* p = 0.515892

Displayed are intra-individual changes of cortical current density using Fisher LSDPost hoc-Test, including mean values (∀) and standard deviation (SD) in �V2/mm4.

* Indicate the level of significance (p < 0.05).** Indicate the level of significance (p < 0.01).

Table 3Mood assessment’s (sub-)dimensions.

MoodMeter® dimensions (n = 12) T Z p-Value

Perceived physical state 21.50 1.372813 0.169811Physical energy 0.00 2.934058 ↓ 0.003346**

Physical fitness 22.00 0.560612 0.575063Physical flexibility 13.50 1.066228 0.286321Physical health 18.00 0.00 1.000000

Psychological strain 19.00 0.866400 0.386271Relaxation 26.00 0.152894 0.878482Positive mood 1.00 1.991741 ↑ 0.046400*

Calmness 10.50 1.050210 0.293622Recovery 8.50 1.936659 0.052788

Motivational state 6.00 2.191483 ↑ 0.028418*

Self-confidence 4.00 2.745626 ↑ 0.006040**

Willingness to seek contact 9.50 1.540107 0.123535Social acceptance 1.50 2.310462 ↑ 0.020863*

Readiness to strain 6.00 0.943456 0.345448

Displayed are values of the Wilcoxon paired sample test. Arrows indicate anincreased (↑) or decreased (↓) perception respectively.

* Indicate the level of significance (p < 0.05).** Indicate the level of significance (p < 0.01).

Moodpost values compared to the values recorded for Moodpre

(Table 3).The overall dimension motivational state showed a significant

increase (p = 0.028418) of the recorded Moodpost values comparedto values recorded for Moodpre. Additionally, sub-dimensions self-confidence (p = 0.006040) and social acceptance (p = 0.020863) bothrevealed a significant increase of the recorded Moodpost valuescompared to the values recorded for Moodpre (Table 3).

Table 4Cognitive performance.

Cognitive performance – Vienna testingsystem

F(1,11) p-Value

Continuous visual recognition task –number of correct hits

0.02012 0.88977

Reaction time task – mean reaction time 0.14635 0.70934

Displayed are values of the one-way repeated measures of variance (ANOVA) for thefactor measurement (intervention, control conditions).

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3.4. Cognitive performance

Cognitive performance values for both, RT and CVR recordedafter exercise revealed no significant changes compared to valuesof the control measurements (p > 0.05; Table 4).

4. Discussion

This study aimed to localize changes in electroencephalo-graphic activity, mood and cognitive performance in intellectuallydisabled individuals following a moderate running exercise. Sig-nificant changes in cortical current density of frontal brain areasas well as decreases in perceived physical energy were reported,whereas overall motivational states (including self-confidence andsocial acceptance) as well as positive mood increased significantly.No changes could be observed for the cognitive tasks followingexercise.

The findings of our research revealed a significant decreasein cortical current density after exercise in frontal lobe regions,specifically pronounced in the rectal gyrus, medial frontal gyrusand orbital gyrus. Besides the literatures’ dominant association ofthe frontal lobe with emotional processes (for an overview pleaserefer to Ref. [1]), a number of convincing neuro-scientific evidencesshow, that these frontal lobe gyri also play important roles in cog-nitive processing. Neuropsychological investigations on illiteracyfor example, show evidence, that the left rectal gyrus is associ-ated with reading and writing during childhood [48]. In addition,a comparative study on cerebral blood flow confirmed a generalinvolvement of the right rectal gyrus and left orbital gyrus in work-ing memory and novelty response processes as well as in cognitiveand emotional processing, such as the perception of moods [49].An fMRI study by Talati and Hirsch [42] revealed, that the medialfrontal gyrus is associated with high-level executive functions anddecision-related processes, such as recognition processes. Dearyet al. [50] investigated the performance of healthy adults in a visualinspection time task. Their findings provide evidence, identifyingthe medial frontal gyrus as part of a functional connectivity net-work, that is possibly associated with the processing of visuallydegraded perceptions [50].

It seems important to stress, that the present study revealedsimilar decreases in cortical current density in even more precisemedial frontal lobe regions, the Brodmann areas 11 and 25. Brod-mann area 11 is known to relate to the rectal gyrus and orbitalgyrus [49] and is, however, together with Brodmann area 25, alsoassociated to be preferentially involved in psychological processesas compared to cognitive processes [44].

However, there is evidence suggesting new research approachesthat address a connection of decreased frontal brain activity andcognitive psychology [28]. On the basis of these previous researchfindings and with respect to Dietrich’s transient hypofrontality the-ory [28], the present studys’ decrease of cortical current density infrontal lobe regions after exercise might explain a restructuring ofresources, referring to mood and initial cognitive states [51].

A decrease in perceived physical energy, reported in this study,indicates that the running exercise, completed by our participants,was physically challenging and somewhat tiring. These results donot contradict other findings, relating an effect of abating perceivedphysical energy after exercising and brain cortical activity [4,5,7].

More interestingly, our results revealed an increase in the over-all motivational state after exercise in addition. More specificallythis was pronounced in the perception of self-confidence and social-acceptance of the participants. The benefits of exercise in relation tomood have been reported in previous research many times [3,6,7].Moreover, several neuropsychological studies show evidence thatexercise has an effect on both social- and self-perception [4,10,52].

There is also evidence, suggesting the social aspects of exercise tofunction as a motivator for an ongoing participation in exerciseprogrammes and herewith to foster its benefits such as friendshipand social connection [24]. Earlier research by Wurst et al. [53],who investigated the effects of a weight-reduction programme inan intellectually disabled individual (12 years old), reported anachievement in the participants’ self-esteem as well as a positiveexperience of social acceptance afterwards. On the basis of ourfindings of an increased motivational state, including an increasedperception of self-confidence and social acceptance as well as posi-tive mood in intellectually disabled individuals after exercise andwith respect to previous research results, there is reason to believethat physical exercising, even following a one-time running exer-cise, enhances social- and self-perception in intellectually disabledindividuals. Adding to previous research [22], that exercise seems tocontribute to well being in intellectually disabled individuals, thisalso underlines the importance of exercise for intellectually dis-abled individuals, improving the quality of life and a general wellbeing.

With respect to previous research, reporting significantimprovements in reaction time following a structured physical fit-ness programme for 12 weeks in intellectually disabled individuals[23] we expected to observe improvements by our participants inthe reaction time task after exercising. Furthermore, a most recentreview on exercise and cognitive function in relation to neuro-logical disorders show evidence that exercise improves attentionprocesses and cognitive flexibility [25], giving reason to expectsimilar findings in our studys’ visual recognition task followingexercise. Additionally, although a non-exercise study, Kamijo etal. [54] investigated working memory under speed and accuracyinstructions, suggesting a more constant level of control in higher-fit individuals. However, our study revealed, despite promisingprevious research findings, no cognitive tasks changes followingexercise. Although carefully chosen and modified, the cognitivetasks used in this study might still not have been appropriate forthe specific needs of our intellectually disabled participants.

Today, it is widely assumed that changes in electroencephalo-graphic activity in frontal brain regions are related to mood[7,11,51] and cognitive performance [9]. There is evidence thatthe influences of exercise, mood and cognitive performance canbe due to an exercise-induced state of frontal hypofunction[28,55].

The present studys’ decrease in frontal cortical current densityfollowing exercise, coincided with an increase in self-esteem andmood, adds to previous research. Schneider et al. [10] for exam-ple provide evidence, that changes in brain cortical activity due toexercise may serve as a countermeasure to psycho-physiologicaldeconditioning. In addition, exercise seems to be related to indi-vidual preferences in both, exercise intensity and duration as wellas in the type of exercising, suggesting self-selected exercise condi-tions related to a general well being [3,4]. Furthermore, convincingevidence exists, relating academic achievement and exercise [9].To that effect, a study by Schneider et al. [5] give reason to believe,that school children’s cognitive performance may benefit from adecrease in frontal brain areas following a moderate cycling exer-cise. Recently, coherences between brain cortical function andneurocognitive performances were observed, even under extremeconditions (changed gravity [40]). However, Dietrich and Sparling[56] also suggest, that non-cognitive tasks such as treadmill run-ning, can interfere with resources that are potentially available forcognitive processes.

With respect to our findings, we are well aware that the lownumber of rather heterogeneous participants limits the presentstudy. Furthermore, we experienced a considerable difficulty infinding adequate measuring devices for intellectually disabled indi-viduals, in particular for the assessment of cognitive performances.

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5. Conclusion

The benefits of physical exercise on mood and cognitive per-formance have been investigated in several neuropsychologicalstudies [5,7,9]. With respect to the data provided here it couldbe assumed, that a moderate self-selected pace running exercisefor 30 min, enhances self-esteem, coincided with cortical activitychanges in fronto-temporal brain areas. However, no effects oncognitive performance were observed.

Following this neuropsychological approach, there is a need forfuture studies, evaluating the specific needs to enhance mood inintellectually disabled individuals. In addition, further investiga-tions of neurocognitive processes should take the clinical picture’sdiversity of intellectual disabilities into account, if possible in morehomogeneous participants.

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the German Sport University Cologneawarding a research grant to the authors of this publication – TobiasVogt in collaboration with Stefan Schneider and Vera Abeln.

We would like to thank all our participants for being part ofand spending some of their valuable time for this study. Everybodylooked extremely beautiful with the cap!

A special thanks goes to the parents and the administra-tion of the ‘Heilpädagogisches Therapie- und Förderzentrum St.Laurentius-Warburg’ as well as the executive board of the ‘Cari-tas Wohn- und Werkstätten im Erzbistum Paderborn e. V.’ whorealized the relevance of this approach and fully supported thisstudy.

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