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Document Type

Abstract

Publication Date

12-1-2024

Abstract

Background/Purpose: Prolonged sedentary behavior is prevalent in the daily lives of Chinese college students. Given that college students, as representatives of the younger demographic, confront increased academic, social, and other challenges, it is imperative to explore strategies for enhancing their cognitive function. The principal aim of this investigation was to assess the impact of acute high-intensity interval training combined with meditation on the cognitive function of sedentary college students.

Methods: A total of 51 sedentary college students (20.24±2.19) were included in this study. The subjects were randomly divided into high-intensity interval training combined with meditation group, high-intensity interval training group, and control group. Stroop task was used to record the accuracy and reaction times, and a near-infrared spectral brain imaging system was used to monitor the brain's oxy-hemoglobin concentration responses.

Results: (1) Stroop task reaction times exhibited a significant main effect for the test phase (F=30.142, p < 0.001, η²=0.386) and a significant interaction between test phase and group (F=7.627, p = 0.001, η²=0.241). Simple effect analysis revealed faster post-test reaction times for both the Combination (F=7.783, p = 0.008, η²=0.140) and HIIT group (F=37.231, p < 0.001, η²=0.437) compared to pre-test. (2) The fNIRS data showed that the activation of channel 7 (F=12.527, p = 0.001, η²=0.207), channel 15 (F=13.742, p = 0.001, η²=0.223) and channel 16 (F=10.529, p = 0.002, η²=0.180) in the acute high-intensity training group was significantly higher than that in the pre-test, and the activation of channel 15 (F=14.832, p < 0.001, η²=0.236) and channel 16 (F=8.605, p = 0.005, η²=0.152) in the combined group was higher than that in the pre-test.

Conclusion: Both acute high-intensity interval training combined with meditation and acute high-intensity interval training independently exhibited positive effects on cognitive performance in sedentary college students. Additionally, the combined intervention significantly enhanced the activation levels of factor L-DLPFC, while acute high-intensity interval training significantly increased the activation levels of both factors L-DLPFC and R-FPA. This study found a new intervention method to improve the cognitive performance of sedentary college students.

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