2024-02-20 03:48:51
In a study recently published in the journal NPJ Science of Learning, researchers investigated the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on the efficiency of subsequent motor skill acquisition in older adults. They conducted visual isometric pinch tests (SVIPT) on a group of 24 adults aged 55 to 75 years and found that while HIIT improved the offline early formation of new motor skills, the acquisition of these skills did not benefit, and sometimes even had a negative effect, contrary to previous findings . These findings provide important insights to experts involved in motor learning with the help of physical activity, especially in older populations.
Research: Acute high-intensity physical activity affects motor learning in healthy adults. Image credit: Air Images / Shutterstock
The relationship between physical activity and motor skills
One of the most important aspects of routine daily functioning is motor learning, the acquisition and familiarization (gradual improvements in efficiency) of new motor tasks. Previous studies have classified this process into two interrelated phases: online learning of a new skill, which involves improvements in efficiency with novelty over time, and the offline consolidation period, during which the skill is encoded into memory.
Studies comparing age-related motor learning abilities between younger and older groups indicate that while younger people learn simple tasks online at about the same rate as their older counterparts, their ability to acquire complex or cognitively demanding skills far exceeds that of older populations. Experiments investigating people’s consolidation potential reveal similar findings, with younger people observed to perform better on retention tests and less susceptible to retention disruptions than older people.
Recent research suggests that physical activity may play a crucial role in memory and motor acquisition and learning, with evidence available for both online and offline learning benefits. However, while few studies have found positive associations between acute cardiorespiratory training and motor learning and performance, most literature elucidates the off-line conditioning benefits of other high-intensity interval training (HIIT) regimens. Some studies further hypothesize that physical activity may improve cognitive and motor function outcomes in chronic diseases such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s.
Unfortunately, while these findings have been widely confirmed in younger cohorts, evidence from senior citizens remains lacking. The potential benefits of acute exercise are largely unexplored. Validating these benefits and elucidating the mechanisms that govern them may result in the development of new interventions aimed at delaying cognitive and motor decline in the world’s growing elderly population.
“In adults, higher cardiorespiratory fitness and increased involvement in leisure activities are associated with better motor sequence learning and a greater ability to induce plasticity in the motor cortex. However, a single bout of exercise may be more accessible compared to longer interventions of exercise for Adults, who face increased barriers to physical activity.”
Regarding the research
In the current study, the researchers used the continuous isometric visual task (SVIPT) to assess the relationships between acute physical activity and motor learning in an elderly group including 24 participants between 55 and 75 years of age. The SVIPT test assesses the stages of explicit and implicit motor learning, making it ideal for these investigations. The study used a between-groups research design, where each participant was randomly assigned to a case (exercise) or control (active rest) group.
A. Overview of the testing schedule. A cumulative stress test was conducted at least 48 hours before the following tests. Participants were randomly assigned to rest or exercise conditions. Acquisition and retention of the motor task were completed on the same day with a delay of ± 6 h between testing. B Description of SVIPT motor task adapted from Stavrinos & Coxon. In this version of SVIPT, three motor sequences are presented in pseudorandom order within each block of 12 trials. It is a more cognitively challenging version of SVIPT that requires trial-to-trial repetition, planning, execution, and learning of multiple sequences.
Data collection included demographic and anthropometric records and medical assessments. Individuals with existing chronic conditions were excluded from the analysis. Study interventions included a baseline cardiorespiratory fitness assessment (using peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak) during graded exercise), a 48-hour delay thereafter, and finally, an experimental session comprising 20 minutes of HIIT followed by SVIPT.
The HIIT exercise was conducted using a Wattbike Atom stationary bike with a Polar H10 used for continuous heart rate monitoring. Baseline SVIPT readings were used to calculate each participant’s unique maximal pinch contraction (MVC), which was incorporated as a standardization variable at subsequent follow-ups.
“Performance on the SVIPT was assessed by calculating a skill index, with higher values reflecting a shift in the speed-accuracy trade-off function toward faster and more accurate task performance.”
Independent sample t-tests and linear mixed models were used to assess differences between cohorts.
The research findings
Baseline between group comparisons revealed no statistically significant differences in the case and control groups based on age, gender, physical activity level, body mass index (BMI), resting heart rate (HR), and specifically, retention test delay and power error. SVIPT performance tests revealed profound age- and block-related differences in motor tasks – younger individuals were observed to display enhanced motor learning during active exercise and resting phases (online and offline) compared to older individuals.
Furthermore, older individuals exhibited improved resting retention performance following HIIT compared to non-exercised control groups. In contrast, acute exercise was observed to reduce online motor skill acquisition, with participants who participated in exercise performing worse than those who did not.
conclusions
The purpose of the present study is to investigate the relationship between acute physical activity and motor learning in older human populations. While validating hypotheses positing the benefits of HIIT in promoting memory retention time and consolidation of offline motor tasks, the findings of this study challenge previous literature in which improvements in online motor acquisition have been observed. Surprisingly, participants who took the SVIPT test immediately after acute exercise showed poorer motor skill acquisition than those who did not.
“Overall, these results demonstrate the importance of individual factors such as age when designing physical activity interventions. Furthermore, these results suggest that the benefits of high-intensity physical activity on early motor development extend to older populations. These findings have implications for support in older adults in motor rehabilitation settings, providing a potential way to ameliorate age-related decline in motor learning.”
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