Effects of two months of bed rest and antioxidant supplementation on attentional processing.

Katharina Brauns, Anika Friedl-Werner, Hanns-Christian Gunga, Alexander C Stahn

Journal: Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior 2021;141():81-93

PMID: 34044245

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

Physical inactivity across the lifespan is a growing public health concern affecting the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and central nervous system. Data on the effects of dietary antioxidants as neuroprotective treatments when physical activity levels are impaired are lacking. In this randomized controlled study, twenty young healthy men underwent 60 days of bed rest. Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group (n = 10) receiving a daily antioxidant supplement comprising polyphenols, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, and selenium or a control group (n = 10). Event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral data from a three-stimulus oddball paradigm were collected eight days before bed rest, after 60 days of immobilization, and after eight days of recovery. After two months of bed rest, we found a significant decrease in task efficiency irrespective of the treatment that was corroborated by lower ERPs in fronto-central and parietal brain regions. Neither behavioral nor electrocortical data returned to baseline values after eight days of recovery. Our results provide support for the adverse and persistent neurobehavioral effects of prolonged bed rest, which could not be mitigated by antioxidant supplementation. These findings raise important implications for situations in which physical activity levels become severely restricted such as medical conditions or sedentary lifestyles.

Address: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Physiology, Berlin, Germany.; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Physiology, Berlin, Germany; Université de Normandie, INSERM U 1075 COMETE, Caen, France.; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Physiology, Berlin, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19004, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.03.026