Acute response of prefrontal cortex in institutionalized older adults undergoing a single exergames session

Abstract

Virtual reality-based exercise (exergames) improves cognition of the elderly but the neurophysiological effects are poorly understood. The hypothesis herein established is that an ultrafast neurophysiological adaptation occurs in prefrontal cortex of elderly after completion of a single exergames session. To reinforce the aforementioned hypothesis, individuals living in a Long-Term Care Home (LTCH) participated in the study and were randomly allocated into two groups (Virtual Reality Group, VRG, n = 5; and Active Control Group, ACG n = 5). VRG performed six exercises with exergames and ACG performed exercises with the same VRG movements but with no virtual reality. Assessment of frontal cortical activity at rest and during cognitive testing via electroencephalographic activity (EEG) was performed before and immediately after the intervention. Significant decrease in relative power of EEG (RP_EEG) Beta brainwave (-29 ± 18%) in the left prefrontal cortex of VRG compared to ACG (4 ± 9%) (p = 0.007). A slight improvement on semantic fluency in VRG (ES=0.21) was noted. An ultrafast prefrontal cortical adaptation may occur as an effect of a single exergames session, causing a small improvement on cognition of institutionalized elderly.

Keywords: Cognition; EEG; Older adults; Physical activity; Virtual reality.

Fig. 1

Left Frontal Cortical Power. A) VRG Relative Power; B) ACG Relative Power; C) Δ Relative Power. RBE: rest before exercise; RAE: rest after exercise; CBE: cognitive assessment before exercise; CAE: cognitive assessment after exercise. *p = 0.007.

Fig. 2

Exergames stimulation, prefrontal cortex modifications and cognitive performance. A: Person’s performance on verbal fluency test (animal category). Red color in the prefrontal cortex indicates high relative power Beta brainwave. B: Person playing exergames. Red color in the prefrontal cortex indicates high relative power Beta brainwave. C: Person’s performance on verbal fluency test after exergames session. Yellow color indicates a less relative power Beta brainwave, but the number of animals is higher than previously displayed, showing an ultrafast prefrontal cortex adaptation. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)