Working memory network plasticity after exercise intervention detected by task and resting-state functional MRI

ABSTRACT

The current study examined the effects of an 11-week exercise intervention on brain activity during a working memory (WM) task and resting-state functional network connectivity in deaf children. Twenty-six deaf children were randomly assigned to either an 11-week exercise intervention or control conditions. Before and after the exercise intervention, all participants were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during N-back task performance and a resting state. The behavioural results showed that the exercise intervention improved WM performance. Task activation analyses showed an increase in the parietal, occipital, and temporal gyri and hippocampus and hippocampus (HIP). In addition, WM performance improvements were associated with greater activation in the left HIP region. Resting-state functional connectivity (Rs-FC) between HIP and certain other brain areas shown a significant interaction of group (exercise versus no exercise) and time (pre- and postintervention). Moreover, connectivity between the left HIP and left middle frontal gyrus was related to improved WM performance. These data extend current knowledge by indicating that an exercise intervention can improve WM in deaf children, and these enhancements may be related to the WM network plasticity changes induced by exercise.

KEYWORDS:

• Working memory
• neural network plasticity
• deaf children
• exercise intervention
• functional MRI

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the children, guardians, staff, and investigators at study sites for their contributions to this study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported partly by grants received by Aiguo Chen from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [31771243] and the Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation [141113].