Effect of Acute Moderate-Intensity Exercise on the Mirror Neuron System: Role of Cardiovascular Fitness Level

Abstract

Objectives: The aims of this study were to use functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to determine whether cardiovascular fitness levels modulate the activation of the mirror neuron system (MNS) under table-setting tasks in non-exercise situation, to replicate the study that positive effect of acute moderate-intensity exercise on the MNS and investigate whether cardiovascular fitness levels modulates the effect of exercise on the activation of the MNS. Methods: Thirty-six healthy college-aged participants completed a maximal graded exercise test (GXT) and were categorized as high, moderate, or low cardiovascular fitness. Participants then performed table-setting tasks including an action execution task (EXEC) and action observation task (OBS) prior to (PRE) and after (POST) either a rest condition (CTRL) or a cycling exercise condition (EXP). The EXP condition consisted of a 5-min warm-up, 15-min moderate-intensity exercise (65% VO 2max), and 5-min cool-down. Results: No significant differences were observed for Oxy-Hb and Deoxy-Hb between different cardiovascular fitness levels in the EXEC or OBS tasks in the non-exercise session. But there were significant improvements of oxygenated hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and pre-motor area (PMC) regions under the OBS task following the acute moderate exercise. Particularly, the improvements (Post-Pre) of Oxy-Hb were mainly observed in high and low fitness individuals. There was also a significant improvement of deoxygenated hemoglobin (Deoxy-Hb) in the IPL region under the OBS task. The following analysis indicated that exercise improved Deoxy-Hb in high fitness individuals. Conclusion: This study indicated that the activation of MNS was not modulated by the cardiovascular fitness levels in the non-exercise situation. We replicated the previous study that moderate exercise improved activation of MNS; we also provided the first empirical evidence that moderate-intensity exercise positively affects the MNS activation in college students of high and low cardiovascular fitness levels.

The Relationship between Motor Coordination and Imitation: An fNIRS Study

“…Several studies have pointed out that many regions in the MNS are activated during imitation; specifically, the SMG, PMC, SMA, S1, SSAC, and ANG [11,27]. Our study confirmed this with respect to the PMC, ANG, SMG, and other MNS ROIs.…”

“…We also found that the PMC, ANG, SMG, and other MNS ROIs were significantly activated during imitation. Previous studies have indicated that the MNS is activated during imitation, mainly in the PMC, ANG, SMG, and SSAC [11,27]. In our participants, the average imitation time was negatively correlated with the degree of MNS activation, which indicated that the subjects achieved a better imitation performance if they had stronger internal processing.…”

Cortical activation of neuromuscular electrical stimulation synchronized mirror neuron rehabilitation strategies: an fNIRS study

“…The regions of interest (ROIs) in this study were left MNS, including left PMC (BA6), SPL (BA7), IPL (BA40), IFG (BA44/45), and other related brain regions. Based on previous studies, we designed the montage to cover left MNS according to the international 10/20 system (Figure 2A) (48,49). The montage was designed using the fOLD package and NIRSite software version 2021.4 (NIRx Medical Technologies, Minneapolis, United States) (50).…”

“…Real-time optical morphologies of cortical hemodynamic responses can be obtained from multiple measurement locations simultaneously (40). The above technical characteristics make fNIRS suitable for the evaluation of MNS activation, and fNIRS may be the best technique to evaluate the mechanism of AE brain activation (49). The application of AOT in lower limb motor function, gait, and ADL has been gradually gaining attention, and fNIRS can be used to detect the brain activation patterns in these conditions (75-77).…”

The Nervous System as a Pathway for Exercise to Improve Social Cognition

“…The facilitation of brain function after moderate endurance exercise further seems to extend to other regions involved in the mirror neuron network. Independent from the individual fitness level, an increased activation of inferior frontal gyrus and premotor areas during an observe-and-execute paradigm was reported after moderate endurance exercise ( 32 ). This indicates a potential pathway by which acute exercise may influence social cognitive abilities related to mirroring and motor resonance in particular.…”