Title: Effects of Different Features of a Single Bout of Exercise on Neurobiological Activation and Recovery Following Induction of a Social Interaction
Supervisors: Dr. Eli Puterman
Committee members: Dr. Frances Chen, Dr. Mark Beauchamp
Abstract: Long-term physical activity and exercise have been shown to mitigate neurobiological responses to acute psychosocial stressors. There is also evidence that engaging in a single bout of exercise has immediate effects on reducing neurobiological reactivity to an acute psychosocial stressor. However, much of this previous work has applied definitions of intensity zones on American College of Sports Medicine’s global prescription recommendations, not based on individualized, physiologically meaningful cutoff points for demarcating the intensities at which participants exercised. Additionally, previous work has been completed predominantly in biological males or cis-identified men. The purpose of this project is to expand on prior evidence by investigating the extent to which a single bout of exercise, performed at light, moderate or vigorous intensities based on meaningful indicators of changes in metabolic needs, alters the neurobiological response to a subsequently induced psychosocial stressor. It is hypothesized that vigorous intensity, defined as the midway point between the first and second ventilatory thresholds, will dampen cortisol output following a subsequent psychological stressor, compared to moderate (defined as being 10% below the VT1) and light (set at 1.7km/hour) intensities. Moderate intensity is expected to be evidenced to dampen the cortisol trajectory as compared to the light intensity, but to a lesser extent than vigorous.