Nervous Facilitation in Cardiodynamic Response of Exercising Athletes to Superimposed Mental Tasks: Implications in Depressive Disorder

Abstract

Introduction : Motor commands to perform exercise tasks may also induce activation of cardiovascular centres to supply the energy needs of the contracting muscles. Mental stressors per se may also influence cardiovascular homeostasis. We investigated the cardiovascular response of trained runners simultaneously engaged in mental and physical tasks to establish if aerobically trained subjects could develop, differently from untrained ones, nervous facilitation in the brain cardiovascular centre. Methods : Cardiovascular responses of 8 male middle-distance runners (MDR), simultaneously engaged in mental (colour-word interference test) and physical (cycle ergometer exercise) tasks, were compared with those of 8 untrained subjects. Heart rate, cardiac (CI) and stroke indexes were assessed by impedance cardiography while arterial blood pressures were assessed with a brachial sphygmomanometer. Results : Only in MDR simultaneous engagement in mental and physical tasks induced a significant CI increase which was higher (p<0.05) than that obtained on summing CI values from each task separately performed. Conclusion : Aerobic training, when performed together with a mental effort, induced a CI oversupply which allowed a redundant oxygen delivery to satisfy a sudden fuel demand from exercising muscles by utilizing aerobic sources of ATP, thus shifting the anaerobic threshold towards a higher work load. From data of this study it may also be indirectly stated that, in patients with major depressive disorder, the promotion of regular low-intensity exercise together with mental engagement could ameliorate the perceived physical quality of life, thus reducing their heart risk associated with physical stress.

Exercise Improves Long-Term Social and Behavioral Rhythms in Older Adults: Did it Play a Role during the COVID-19 Lockdown?

“…There is evidence that physical activity can improve social rhythms and biorhythms (1,14) as well as perceived physical QoL (15); in our sample, however, resilience to depression during the pandemic was associated with better functioning of social rhythms but not with previous physical activity. A hypothesis to explain this apparent contradiction could be that physical exercise improves social functioning, but this improvement is not maintained over time and was no longer present in our sample at t48 weeks during the lockdown.…”

A 12-Week Vigorous Exercise Protocol in a Healthy Group of Persons over 65: Study of Physical Function by means of the Senior Fitness Test

“…It is well known that exercise in the older population may prevent several diseases [ 1 – 4 ]. Reduced physical activity impairs the quality of life in elderly people with Alzheimer's Disease [ 4 ], Parkinson's Disease [ 5 ], and Depressive Disorders [ 6 ]. Moreover, musculoskeletal, cardiopulmonary, and cerebrovascular decline are associated with poor physical fitness because of the cumulative effects of illness, multiple drug intake, fatigue, and bed rest [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Exercise Improves the Impact of Chronic Pain in Older Adults: Results of an RCT

“…The choice of an exercise of mild to moderate intensity was made to avoid exclusion of people with mild medical conditions common in older adults who live at home (hypertension, diabetes, overweight, class I obesity) and found to be frequently associated with CP [4]. RCT carried out in older adults routinely have adopted intense levels of physical activity, thus excluding older adults with mild chronic diseases [11], people affected by overweight or mild-moderate obesity and metabolic syndrome [17], depressive status [18], and psychosocial disabilities [19], which could greatly benefit from exercise concerning CP and, in general, from tertiary prevention, particularly concerning cardiovascular risks [5]. The kind of exercise administered in the present trial was therefore accessible to older adults with mild disabilities, such as joint and musculoskeletal disorders of the not severe entity as well [8].…”