Dataset Information

Exergames Inherently Contain Cognitive Elements as Indicated by Cortical Processing.

ABSTRACT: Exergames are increasingly used to train both physical and cognitive functioning, but direct evidence whether and how exergames affect cortical activity is lacking. Although portable electroencephalography (EEG) can be used while exergaming, it is unknown whether brain activity will be obscured by movement artifacts. The aims of this study were to assess whether electrophysiological measurements during exergaming are feasible and if so, whether cortical activity changes with additional cognitive elements. Twenty-four young adults performed self-paced sideways leaning movements, followed by two blocks of exergaming in which participants completed a puzzle by leaning left or right to select the correct piece. At the easy level, only the correct piece was shown, while two pieces were presented at the choice level. Brain activity was recorded using a 64-channel passive EEG system. After filtering, an adaptive mixture independent component analysis identified the spatio-temporal sources of brain activity. Results showed that it is feasible to record brain activity in young adults while playing exergames. Furthermore, five spatially different clusters were identified located frontal, bilateral central, and bilateral parietal. The frontal cluster had significantly higher theta power in the exergaming condition with choice compared to self-paced leaning movements and exergaming without choice, while both central clusters showed a significant increase in absolute alpha-2 power in the exergaming conditions compared to the self-paced movements. This is the first study to show that it is feasible to record brain activity while exergaming. Furthermore, results indicated that even a simple exergame without explicit cognitive demands inherently requires cognitive processing. These results pave the way for studying brain activity during various exergames in different populations to help improve their effective use in rehabilitation settings.

SUBMITTER: Anders P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5968085 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Exergames Inherently Contain Cognitive Elements as Indicated by Cortical Processing.

Anders Phillipp P Lehmann Tim T Müller Helen H Grønvik Karoline B KB Skjæret-Maroni Nina N Baumeister Jochen J Vereijken Beatrix B

Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience 20180518

Exergames are increasingly used to train both physical and cognitive functioning, but direct evidence whether and how exergames affect cortical activity is lacking. Although portable electroencephalography (EEG) can be used while exergaming, it is unknown whether brain activity will be obscured by movement artifacts. The aims of this study were to assess whether electrophysiological measurements during exergaming are feasible and if so, whether cortical activity changes with additional cognitive ...[more]

PMID: 29867400

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundLittle is known about the modulation of cortical excitability in the prefrontal cortex during fear processing in humans. Here, we aimed to transiently modulate and test the cortical excitability during fear processing using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and brain oscillations in theta and alpha frequency bands with electroencephalography (EEG).MethodsWe conducted two separate experiments (no-TMS and TMS). In the no-TMS experiment, EEG recordings were performed during the instructed fear paradigm in which a visual cue (CS+) was paired with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (electric shock), while the other visual cue was unpaired (CS-). In the TMS experiment, in addition the TMS was applied on the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). The participants also underwent structural MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanning and were assigned pseudo-randomly to both experiments, such that age and gender were matched. The cortical excitability was evaluated by time-frequency analysis and functional connectivity with weighted phase lag index (WPLI). We further linked the excitability patterns with markers of stress coping capability.ResultsAfter visual cue onset, we found increased theta power in the frontal lobe and decreased alpha power in the occipital lobe during CS+ relative to CS- trials. TMS of dmPFC increased theta power in the frontal lobe and reduced alpha power in the occipital lobe during CS+. The TMS pulse increased the information flow from the sensorimotor region to the prefrontal and occipital regions in the theta and alpha bands, respectively during CS+ compared to CS-. Pre-stimulation frontal theta power (0.75-1 s) predicted the magnitude of frontal theta power changes after stimulation (1-1.25 s). Finally, the increased frontal theta power during CS+ compared to CS- was positively correlated with stress coping behavior.ConclusionOur results show that TMS over dmPFC transiently modulated the regional cortical excitability and the fronto-occipital information flows during fear processing, while the pre-stimulation frontal theta power determined the strength of achieved effects. The frontal theta power may serve as a biomarker for fear processing and stress-coping responses in individuals and could be clinically tested in mental disorders.

Dataset Information

Exergames Inherently Contain Cognitive Elements as Indicated by Cortical Processing.

Publications

Exergames Inherently Contain Cognitive Elements as Indicated by Cortical Processing.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets