Effects OF Acute Aerobic Exercise On Higher Cerebral Functions

Khyber Medical College, Peshawar

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Exercise

Treatments: Other: None (control group); Behavioral: Aerobic exercise

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05861726

148/DME/KMC

Details and patient eligibility

About

We are comparing higher cerebral functions including cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control and working memory in healthy young adults between a group of acute aerobic exercise and a control group.

Full description

The objective of this study is to compare cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory in healthy young adults between two groups: a group undergoing acute aerobic exercise and a control group.

Methodology:

Study Design: A Randomized Controlled Trial Study Setting: The Physiology Laboratory at Khyber Medical College, Peshawar Study Duration: The study will last for three months. Sample Size: The study will include 19 participants in each group - the Exercising group (E-Group) and the Control group (C-Group).

Healthy young people between 18-25 years who are non-smokers will be included. Sampling: The enrollment in the Randomised Control Trial will be conveniently based, wherein all those who meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria will be enrolled as per study numbers. A lottery method will be adopted for randomization.

Procedure:

The first step is to take ethical approval from the Institutional Research & Ethical Review Board. Following which, after taking informed consent from the participants, the enrolled participants will be randomly allocated to 2 groups. A demographic questionnaire will be filled. This will be followed by a general physical examination.

Both groups will be familiarized with the executive function tasks, while the E-group will have an additional session regarding the exercise protocol.

Both groups will have an initial assessment of executive functions using online psytoolkit followed by intervention. The E-group will undergo 30 minutes of treadmill walking at 60-65% of HRmax with continuous recording of heart rate and ECG via the Biopac system, while the control group session will consist of sitting idly and quietly in the laboratory doing nothing with continuous recording of heart rate and ECG via the Biopac student lab system.

In the end, executive function tests will be assessed before and after exercise using online psytoolkit.org. The data will be extracted via a properly designed proforma and on Microsoft Excel sheet.

Statistical Analysis:

Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)25.0 will be used for statistical analysis.

Enrollment: 38 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 45 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Healthy young adults

Exclusion criteria

• smokers
• cardiorespiratory disorders
• psychiatric disorders

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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38 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Exercising Group

Active Comparator group

Description:

The exercising group shall have pre-intervention assessment of executive brain functions vide Stroop test, Trail making test \& N-Back task/2-Back by using online psytoolkit followed by intervention. The intervention for the group being acute aerobic exercise, which will comprise of 30 minutes of treadmill walking at 60-65% of Heart Rate max with continuous recording of heart rate and ECG via Biopac MP36 Student Lab system. This will be followed by post-intervention assessment of executive brain functions vide Stroop test, Trail making test \& N-Back task/2-Back by using online psytoolkit.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Aerobic exercise

Control Group

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

The control group will also have pre-intervention assessment of executive brain functions vide Stroop test, Trail making test \& N-Back task/2-Back by using online psytoolkit. The control group will undergo NO EXERCISE intervention. They will sit idly in laboratory for 30 minutes with continuous recording of heart rate and ECG via Biopac system. The executive brain functions of the control group will be re-assessed vide Stroop test, Trail making test \& N-Back task/2-Back by using online psytoolkit.

Treatment:

Other: None (control group)