Cognitive Resilience-Quantifying Cognitive Performance Loss Following High-Intensity Motor-Cognitive Reactive Agility...

This study investigated cognitive resilience in response to a repetitive motor-cognitive reactive agility exercise in high-level athletes.

Thirty-seven (26 males, 11 females) high-level team ball sports athletes (mean age: 25 y) were tested on cognitive executive performance during rest (baseline) as well as immediately following 6 repeated all-out reactive agility runs of varying distances (2 × 50 m, 2 × 100 m, 2 × 150 m) with 90-second break in between. Reaction time, error rate, and inverse efficiency score were calculated using the SKILLCOURT technology to determine cognitive performance. Heart rate, rate of perceived exertion, and lactate concentrations were used as markers of physical load and subjective exertion induced by the reactive agility exercise.

Cognitive performance significantly declined from baseline to postexercise trials (P < .001, ηp2=.152), as indicated by a higher inverse efficiency score. Post hoc analyses revealed significant effects after the 50-m (P = .005), 100-m (P = .002), and 150-m (P = .012) bouts. No significant differences were observed between running distances, although physical fatigue (heart rate and rate of perceived exertion) was higher for longer running distances (150 m > 100 m > 50 m; all P < .001).

The results suggest that high-intensity motor-cognitive exercise impairs executive functioning. The missing effect of running distance indicates that exercise intensity (all-out) and type (motor-cognitive) have a stronger influence on performance than duration and exertion. Assessing cognitive resilience provides important information on cognitive performance stability under motor-cognitive load.