The benefits that physical exercise confers on cardiovascular health are well known, whereas the notion that physical exercise can also improve cognitive performance has only recently begun to be explored and has thus far yielded only controversial results. In the present study, we used a sample of young male subjects to test the effects that a single bout of aerobic exercise has on learning. Two tasks were run: the first was an orientation discrimination task involving the primary visual cortex, and the second was a simple thumb abduction motor task that relies on the primary motor cortex. Forty-four and forty volunteers participated in the first and second experiments, respectively. We found that a single bout of aerobic exercise can significantly facilitate learning mechanisms within visual and motor domains and that these positive effects can persist for at least 30 minutes following exercise. This finding suggests that physical activity, at least of moderate intensity, might promote brain plasticity. By combining physical activity–induced plasticity with specific cognitive training–induced plasticity, we favour a gradual up-regulation of a functional network due to a steady increase in synaptic strength, promoting associative Hebbian-like plasticity.

The lack of steady phase during exercise apnoeas suggests that the conditions determining R3 were already attained at the end of E1. This being so, E2 would correspond to R3.

Purpose Heart rate variability (HRV) was analyzed after a spa-course to test the hypothesis that cardiac autonomic modulation can reflect the feeling of relaxation and wellbeing induced by the treatment. Methods Twenty healthy males were administered a spacourse, consisting in classic sauna (15 min), steam bath (10 min), and soft sauna (10 min), each of them followed by a cooling-off and a rest period. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were measured at rest in supine position before and after the treatment. HRV was analyzed in time and frequency domains and by Poincaré plot. Results After the treatment, systolic and diastolic BPs were decreased by about 13 and 6 mmHg, respectively (p \ 0.05 vs. before), while HR was unchanged (55 ± 7 b/ min). HRV time domain and Poincaré parameters were significantly higher after than before the spa-course: SDNN, rMSSD, SD1 and SD2 increased by 31-35 %, NN50 and pNN50 by 64 %. The ratio SD1/SD2 was 0.6 ± 0.1 in both conditions. No modification was found in normalized power of spectral component and in their ratio (LF/HF = 1.3 ± 1.1, overall mean). Conclusions The increase in HRV with no change in markers of sympatho-vagal interaction observed after the spa-course would suggest an enhanced vagal modulation of HR, possibly reflecting the relaxing effect of the treatment.HRV analysis could be a useful tool to monitor changes in individual psychophysiological condition.