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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1499587

The Role of Exercise in Restoring Executive Function: a Comparison of Tobacco-Exposed College Athletes and Sedentary Students

Provisionally accepted
Minjia Wang Minjia Wang 1Shuya Wu Shuya Wu 1Qian Ma Qian Ma 1Hao Hu Hao Hu 1Yanpei Liu Yanpei Liu 1Yaozheng Wang Yaozheng Wang 1Shitao Zhan Shitao Zhan 1Dongsen Liu Dongsen Liu 2*Olivier Girard Olivier Girard 3
  • 1 Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 2 Beijing Sport University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 3 University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

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

    As adolescent smoking rates rise, its impact on cognitive function has drawn greater attention. This study explores whether exercise can mitigate the negative effects of smoking on executive function in male college students. Sixty male college students were divided into four groups (n=15 each): sedentary smokers, sedentary nonsmokers, athletic smokers, and athletic nonsmokers. All participants completed the Eriksen flanker task, with prefrontal cortex activation measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. After the baseline test, all sedentary students engaged in 33 minutes of high-intensity interval training, followed by the same procedures as in the pre-test. In the flanker task, college athletes exhibited superior executive function compared to sedentary students, with higher accuracy (p=0.042), faster reaction times (p=0.002), and more pronounced brain activation (p=0.048). Post-exercise, reaction times improved significantly in sedentary groups (p＜ 0.05). Smoking impaired executive function both before and after exercise, with smokers showing lower accuracy (p＜0.001), slower reaction times (p＜0.001), and diminished brain activation (p＜ 0.001) compared to nonsmokers. Engaging in acute aerobic exercise may improve executive function in sedentary smokers. Exercise may help mitigate smoking-related declines in executive function among college students.

    Keywords: Exercise, Sedentary individuals, Executive Function, Smoking, Prefrontal Cortex

    Received: 21 Sep 2024; Accepted: 18 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Wu, Ma, Hu, Liu, Wang, Zhan, Liu and Girard. 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: Dongsen Liu, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, 100084, Beijing Municipality, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.