Scientists from the University of Tsukuba have found that pupil dilation in response to mild exercise can predict whether a person’s brain will develop after exercise. Research published in the journal Neuro Image.
The study included 24 healthy people. Half did 10 minutes of light exercise, while the rest just sat on a stationary bike. The scientists then examined the participants’ brain activity during the execution of the executive function test.
While the pupils of the people in the exercise group were dilated during the exercise, the pupils of the people in the control group did not change in size.
The wider the pupils, the better the participants performed on the Stroop color task, where you quickly answered whether the meaning of a word (for example, “red” or “green”) matched the color in which it was written. This test is used to assess executive function, i.e. the ability to plan current actions towards a purpose and selectively focus one’s attention.
Pupil dilation was also associated with increased activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, an area associated with executive function. More research is needed to confirm the scientists’ findings.
“Looking forward, pupil diameter has promising potential as a new biomarker that can be used to predict the effects of exercise on the brain,” the scientists said.
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