Shafaqna English- A brief session of moderate aerobic exercise may help preserve the brain’s ability to automatically adapt physical movements, according to a study published in Physiology & Behavior. Researchers found that 20 minutes of stationary cycling prevented a decline in unconscious motor learning that occurred after rest, according to PsyPost.
The study, led by Zivar Beyraghi of the Université de Sherbrooke, involved 26 healthy young adults with an average age of about 25. Each participant completed two experimental sessions on separate days, allowing researchers to compare the effects of exercise with those of rest.
Participants performed reaching tasks using a robotic device while watching a computer cursor that represented their hand movements. Researchers introduced subtle 30-degree rotations to the visual feedback, creating a mismatch between the participants’ actual movements and what they saw.
The team measured implicit sensorimotor adaptation by examining the involuntary change in hand direction that occurred after exposure to the rotated visual feedback. This measure reflects automatic motor learning rather than conscious strategies.
After a 20-minute cycling session at 65% to 75% of each participant’s maximum heart rate, overall response time improved from an average of 555 milliseconds to 532 milliseconds, indicating faster performance.
More significantly, exercise appeared to prevent the decline in implicit motor adaptation seen after rest. Following the resting condition, the average post-rotation bias fell from 2.93 degrees to 2.20 degrees. After exercise, the measure remained largely stable, changing only from 2.45 degrees to 2.40 degrees.
The findings suggest that moderate aerobic exercise may not increase the brain’s baseline capacity for implicit learning, but could help preserve that capacity during periods when it would otherwise decline.
Researchers said the underlying biological mechanism remains unclear. Possible explanations include changes in attention, neural fatigue or alterations in brain systems involved in motor learning. Future studies will examine whether exercise-related changes in neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine or blood flow to the cerebellum are responsible.
The researchers cautioned that the study was small and included an uncontrolled difference in the time between experimental sessions for some participants. Larger studies will be needed to determine whether brief aerobic exercise could eventually be used to support motor rehabilitation and the acquisition of physical skills.
Source: PsyPost