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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Long-term physical activity modulates brain processing of somatosensory stimuli: Evidence from young male twins.

subject

description

Leisure-time physical activity is a key contributor to physical and mental health. Yet the role of physical activity in modulating cortical function is poorly known. We investigated whether precognitive sensory brain functions are associated with the level of physical activity. Physical activity history (3-yr-LTMET), physiological measures and somatosensory mismatch response (sMMR) in EEG were recorded in 32 young healthy twins. In all participants, 3-yr-LTMET correlated negatively with body fat%, r = −0.77 and positively with VO2max, r = 0.82. The fat% and VO2max differed between 15 physically active and 17 inactive participants. Trend toward larger sMMR was seen in inactive compared to active participants. This finding was significant in a pairwise comparison of 9 monozygotic twin pairs discordant for physical activity. Larger sMMR reflecting stronger synchronous neural activity may reveal diminished gating of precognitive somatosensory information in physically inactive healthy young men compared to the active ones possibly rendering them more vulnerable to somatosensory distractions from their surroundings. This work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture, Helsinki, Finland, Meta-Predict (within the European Union Seventh Framework Program, Health-F2-2012-277936), Juho Vainio Foundation, Helsinki, Finland and the EU COST Action TD1006. The FinnTwin16 cohort study data collection has been supported by National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (grants AA-12502, AA-00145, and AA-09203 to R. J.Rose) and the Academy of Finland (grants 100499, 205585, 118555,141054 and 264146 to J. Kaprio). J.K. has been supported by the Academy of Finland (grants 265240, 263278).