Hydrogen Gas Improves Brain Function During Exercise in Healthy Men
- Authors
- Yinglu Hong, Dapeng Bao, Brad Manor, Yuncong Zhou, Junhong Zhou
- Journal
- Neurophotonics
- Year
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1117/1.NPh.11.1.015009
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Exercise Performance
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
A study found that the complexity of brain signals in the prefrontal cortex, measured during exercise, increases with physical effort and is further enhanced by breathing hydrogen gas, potentially indicating the brain's ability to adapt to endurance exercise.
Key Finding
Inhaling hydrogen gas before exercise increased the complexity of blood flow patterns in the prefrontal cortex during cycling, and this greater complexity was associated with smaller increases in heart rate during physical exertion.
Summary
Researchers had 24 healthy young men breathe either hydrogen gas or placebo air, then perform cycling exercise at increasing intensities. They measured blood flow patterns in the prefrontal cortex (the brain region involved in decision-making) using a non-invasive scanning method. The study found that during exercise, brain blood flow patterns became more complex and variable, and this complexity was greater after breathing hydrogen gas compared to placebo. People with more complex brain blood flow patterns also showed smaller increases in heart rate during exercise.
Practical Takeaway
This small study in healthy young men suggests hydrogen gas inhalation may influence how the brain regulates blood flow during exercise. However, the study is preliminary and only tested 24 people on a single occasion; it's unclear whether these changes translate to meaningful improvements in exercise performance or health outcomes, or whether results would apply to other populations, ages, or types of exercise.
Abstract
Significance: Prefrontal cortex (PFC) hemodynamics are regulated by numerous underlying neurophysiological components over multiple temporal scales. The pattern of output signals, such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy fluctuations (i.e., fNIRS), is thus complex. We demonstrate first-of-its-kind evidence that this fNIRS complexity is a marker that captures the influence of endurance capacity and the effects of hydrogen gas (H2) on PFC regulation. Aim: We aim to explore the effects of different physical loads of exercise as well as the intaking of hydrogen gas on the fNIRS complexity of the PFC. Approach: Twenty-four healthy young men completed endurance cycling exercise from 0 (i.e., baseline) to 100% of their physical loads after intaking 20 min of either H2 or placebo gas (i.e., control) on each of two separate visits. The fNIRS measuring the PFC hemodynamics and heart rate (HR) was continuously recorded throughout the exercise. The fNIRS complexity was quantified using multiscale entropy. Results: The fNIRS complexity was significantly greater in the conditions from 25% to 100% of the physical load (p<0.0005) compared with the baseline and after intaking H2 before exercise; this increase of fNIRS complexity was significantly greater compared with the control (p=0.001∼0.01). At the baseline, participants with a greater fNIRS complexity had a lower HR (β=−0.35∼−0.33, p=0.008∼0.02). Those with a greater increase of complexity had a lower increase of the HR (β=−0.30∼−0.28, p=0.001∼0.002) during exercise. Conclusions: These observations suggest that fNIRS complexity would be a marker that captures the adaptive capacity of PFC to endurance exercise and to the effects of interventions on PFC hemodynamics. Keywords: endurance exercise; functional near-infrared spectroscopy; hemodynamics of prefrontal cortex; intaking hydrogen gas; multiscale entropy.