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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Behav. Neurosci.
Sec. Emotion Regulation and Processing
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1520508
This article is part of the Research Topic Noninvasive Brain Stimulation: A Promising Approach to Study and Improve Emotion Regulation View all 3 articles

The effects of an acute Tai Chi on emotional memory and prefrontal cortex activation: A fNIRS study

Provisionally accepted
Haining Wang Haining Wang 1Zhihao Chen Zhihao Chen 2Hao Fan Hao Fan 3Shumeng Liu Shumeng Liu 3Longfei Zhao Longfei Zhao 3Quanliang Zheng Quanliang Zheng 4Yujiang Guo Yujiang Guo 1,5*
  • 1 Henan Sport University, Zhengzhou, China
  • 2 Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, GdaƄsk, Pomeranian, Poland
  • 3 Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
  • 4 Beijing Sport University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 5 Beijing Normal University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: Acute exercise has the potential to influence emotional memory and cortical hemodynamics, but the specific effects depend on the type of exercise. This study aimed to determine whether acute Tai Chi practice enhances emotional memory and prefrontal cortex activation compared to cycling and a control condition.Methods: Using a within-subjects crossover design, 36 healthy university students completed three interventions: Tai Chi, cycling, and a resting control condition. Emotional memory performance was assessed before and after each intervention, and cortical hemodynamics were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The correlation between oxyhemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) concentration in the prefrontal cortex and emotional memory accuracy was analyzed.Results: Compared to cycling and the control group, the Tai Chi intervention showed: (1) a significantly higher accuracy of positive emotional memory; (2) a greater increase in Oxy-Hb concentration in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC) during positive emotional memory tasks; (3) a stronger positive correlation between Oxy-Hb concentration in the L-DLPFC and emotional memory accuracy. In contrast, cycling improved positive emotional memory accuracy to a lesser extent, while the control group showed no significant changes.Tai Chi, compared to cycling and rest, significantly enhanced positive emotional memory and L-DLPFC activation. These findings highlight the unique potential of Tai Chi to improve emotional memory through increased cortical activation, suggesting its effectiveness as a cognitive-emotional intervention.

    Keywords: Tai Chi, Emotional Memory, near-infrared spectroscopy, Acute Exercise, Prefrontal Cortex

    Received: 31 Oct 2024; Accepted: 30 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Chen, Fan, Liu, Zhao, Zheng and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yujiang Guo, Henan Sport University, Zhengzhou, China

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