The Association of Obesity and Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Relation to Cognitive Flexibility: An Event-Related Potential Study

Abstract

This study investigates an association between obesity and cardiorespiratory fitness concerning their potential effects on cognitive flexibility in young adults from behavioral and neuroelectrical perspectives. Eligible young adults (N = 140, 18–25 years) were assigned into one of four groups, according to their status of obesity (i.e., body mass index) and cardiorespiratory fitness levels (i.e., estimated maximal oxygen uptake), namely, normal weight with high cardiorespiratory fitness (NH), obese with high cardiorespiratory fitness (OH), normal weight with low cardiorespiratory fitness (NL), and obese with low cardiorespiratory fitness (OL). The task-switching test was utilized, and its induced endogenous (P3) and exogenous (N1) event-related potential components were recorded. Concerning behavioral indices, the NH demonstrated superior behavioral performance across global switching and local switching of the task-switching test compared to individuals with lower cardiorespiratory fitness and obesity (i.e., NL, OH, and OL). Additionally, the OH demonstrated better performance than the OL during the heterogeneous condition. For neuroelectrical indices, the NH had larger mean P3 amplitudes during global and local switching than the other three groups. A larger N1 amplitude was also observed in the NH during local switching than in the OH group. The findings suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness has beneficial effects on cognitive flexibility, attentional resource allocation, and sensory evaluation in young adults. Furthermore, our research provided novel evidence showing that cardiorespiratory fitness might potentially alleviate the adverse effects of obesity on cognitive flexibility in young adults.

Acute high-intensity interval exercise improves food-related cognition in young adults with obesity: An ERP study

“…Upon arrival, participants provided written informed consent and completed a demographic questionnaire. Intelligence (Digit Span test) ( Wechsler, 1997 ) as well as the eating styles (Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) ( Van Strien et al., 1986 ) were then measured to characterize the study participants ( Chi et al., 2021 ; Khandekar et al., 2023 ; Song et al., 2022 ; Zhang et al., 2022 ). Subsequently, height and weight were assessed for the determination of BMI (weight (kg)/height (m) 2 ) and cardiorespiratory fitness (VO 2peak ) was assessed using the YMCA submaximal ergometer exercise test ( Golding et al., 1989 ; Xie et al., 2020 ).…”

“…Subsequently, height and weight were assessed for the determination of BMI (weight (kg)/height (m) 2 ) and cardiorespiratory fitness (VO 2peak ) was assessed using the YMCA submaximal ergometer exercise test ( Golding et al., 1989 ; Xie et al., 2020 ). This test is considered safe and well-tolerated by individuals with obesity, minimizing risks associated with maximal exercise testing and has been utilized in previous obesity-related studies ( Chi et al., 2021 ; Song et al., 2016 ; Song et al., 2022 ).…”

Examining Relationships between Cognitive Flexibility, Exercise Perceptions, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors

“…A meaningful cognitive domain to examine is cognitive flexibility, due to the emerging evidence that has focused on the influence of cognitive flexibility on healthy behaviors, especially relating to physical activity [20][21][22][23]. Cognitive flexibility facilitates important human functioning, such as modifying one's behavior to changing or complex circumstances or task demands [24].…”

“…Cognitive flexibility may serve as a predictor of willingness to engage in different types of physical activity and exercise [5,33], and thus it is rational to suspect it to be linked to lower CVD risk [23]. However, to date, there are only minimal data describing the relationships between unique markers of cognition (e.g., cognitive flexibility) and precise markers of health.…”