Effect of Exercise Duration on Post-Exercise Persistence of Oxyhemoglobin Changes in the Premotor Cortex: A Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study in Moderate-Intensity Cycling Exercise

Measurement of oxyhemoglobin (O2Hb) changes in the cerebral cortex using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) shows that its levels increase during moderate-intensity exercise and persists after exercise. However, the effects of exercise duration on O2Hb persistence in the premotor cortex (PMC) are unknown. We aimed to determine the effects of exercise duration on the persistence of O2Hb changes after moderate-intensity cycling as exercise. Healthy young volunteers were recruited to participate in this study. After a 3-min rest period, the exercise was initiated at a workload corresponding to 50% VO2peak. The exercise continued for 10 min and 20 min, followed by 15 min of rest. The O2Hb levels in the right (R-PMC) and left premotor cortices (L-PMC) were measured using an NIRS system. The O2Hb values during the 15-min post-exercise rest period in the R-PMC were 0.010 ± 0.011 mM·cm after the 10-min exercise and 0.035 ± 0.010 mM·cm after the 20-min exercise, without significant differences (p = 0.104). The O2Hb value in the L-PMC during post-exercise rest (0.055 ± 0.010 mM·cm) after the 20-min exercise was significantly higher than that after the 10-min exercise (0.023 ± 0.007 mM·cm; p = 0.014). Thus, the effects of exercise duration on O2Hb persistence have laterality in the PMC.