PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY: AN ANALYTICAL REVIEW

A.V. Urrego Rodríguez^1,2, K.M. Alvis-Gómez^1,2

Background: Cognitive flexibility is the executive process responsible for generating changes in behaviors and thoughts found in dynamic contexts subject to rapid change and fluctuations. Therefore, the possibility of changing efficiently and quickly when the circumstances demand it constitutes an essential feature of the adaptive behavior of the people. The cognitive flexibility depends on activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, frontal gyrus inferior, supramarginal and anterior cingulate gyrus and other brain areas, as well as the action combination of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and acetylcholine, among others. Physical activity brings with it physiological changes that can act directly in the brain areas and in the production of the neurotransmitters mentioned above. Some of the studies in which physical activity is related to cognitive processes, such as functions executive and specifically, cognitive flexibility such as Illesca Matus, show a direct relationship between the practice of physical activity and the improvement of cognitive processing.

Purpose: To describe the theoretical relationship between physical activity and cognitive flexibility, taking into account the components of cognitive flexibility: attention and salience, and the neurophysiological consequences of the practice of aerobic physical activity.

Methods: The present study can be categorized as a theoretical-analytical and descriptive review of the relationship between cognitive flexibility and aerobic activity. This analysis was performed from the two main components of cognitive flexibility: attention and salience. The relationships between these two elements and the neurophysiological consequences that arise from the practice of aerobic physical activity are explored. 

Results: The results were grouped into two different categories: In the first, the relationships found between the subcategories of AF and zone activation Cerebral, Attention, and Salience; and in the second, the correlations between the subcategories: Effects of AF on the main neurotransmitters involved in cognition and FC, are presented. This in order to inform the reader of the relationships established through the analytical review process detailed of the evidence found.  In the analysis is evident that aerobic activity has a potential good effect in cognitive conditions and in cognitive flexibility.

Conclusion(s): The physiological changes produced by the performance of an activity in the body include, among others: increased blood flow, activation of the production of hormones and precursor elements, the increased demand for oxygen and ATP, these processes will contribute effectively to the cognitive flexibility in different ways. Among them, the activation of neurotransmitters such as demand given the amount of ATP that will be increased at the cellular level thus generating a greater availability of resources for the synthesis and transport of the aforementioned neurotransmitters.

Implications: This study establishes the theoretical bases to formulate investigations that allow identifying the relationships and the degree of relationship between the variables of physical activity and cognitive flexibility.

Funding, acknowledgements: National University of Colombia (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)- Mechanical and Neuromechanical Analysis Research Group

Keywords: Cognitive Flexibility, Aerobic Exercise, Physical Activity

Topic: Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity

Did this work require ethics approval? No

Institution: N/A

Committee: N/A

Reason: The work not implies experimental or invasive methods. It's just an analytical review