ScholarWorks@성균관대학교

초록

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the effects of a single session of exercise on cognitive function and prefrontal cortex activation in older adults. Method: Twelve older adults (aged 70–75 years) without physical activity limitations participated in the study. Prefrontal cortex activation was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with a NIRSIT device (Obelab Inc., Korea). Cognitive function was assessed using the Stroop task to evaluate response accuracy and reaction time before and after the exercise session. Prefrontal activation was analyzed with Obelab NIRSIT Quest v1.1.2 software, and statistical comparisons were performed using SPSS 24.0 with a significance level set at 0.05. Results: Following a single exercise session, significant changes in prefrontal cortex activation were observed. During the pre-exercise resting and cognitive task sessions, a significant difference was detected in the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) (t = -2.448, p < .05). After exercise, significant activation was observed in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) (t = -2.427, p < .05). Comparisons between preand post-exercise conditions further revealed significant increases in activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (t = 3.006, p < .05) and the left frontopolar cortex (FPC) (t = 3.052, p < .05). In terms of behavioral performance, reaction time significantly improved, decreasing from an average of 234 ms before exercise to 209 ms after exercise (t = 45.666, p < .05), representing a reduction of 24.8 ms. Although response accuracy increased from 64% pre-exercise to 68% post-exercise, this improvement was not statistically significant (t = -1.031, p > .05). Conclusion: single session of exercise-induced activation in the prefrontal regions is linked to improvements in executive function and cognitive flexibility among older adults. This activation was associated with significant improvements in reaction time, indicating that acute exercise may serve as an effective strategy for enhancing cognitive processing speed in aging populations.

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