Biology subjects

Gelebart, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Gelebart, J..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Multimodal Dynamics of Mental Fatigue and Their Selective Modulation by Acute Exercise: Effects on Memory and Creativity

Mental fatigue (MF) arises from sustained cognitive load and produces a multisystem signature spanning subjective experience, task performance, cortical oscillations, and oculomotor dynamics. It may alter higher-order cognitive functions essential to everyday life, underscoring the need for preventive strategies. Although moderate aerobic exercise (EXO) facilitates recovery from MF, its influence on the onset and expression of MF when performed beforehand remains unexplored. This study provided a multimodal characterization of MF, assessed its impact on associative memory and divergent creativity, and examined whether prior EXO modulated these outcomes. Twenty-nine participants completed either 15 min of EXO or rest before a 35-min MF-inducing Time Load Dual Back task. Subjective fatigue and effort, performance, EEG activity, and eye-blink rate were continuously recorded; associative memory and divergent creativity were assessed pre-intervention and post-MF. Both groups showed progressive increases in MF and effort from 7 min onward, stable performance, and a rise in parieto-central alpha power at 18 min. The EXO group exhibited higher frontal-medial theta power and stable blink rates, whereas blink rate in REST increased at 21 min. EXO did not prevent subjective MF nor influence behavioral stability but modulated neurophysiological markers potentially related to compensatory control and dopaminergic regulation. Associative memory remained preserved in both groups, whereas creative flexibility increased in REST but not EXO, suggesting MF-related disinhibition in the former and preserved inhibitory control in the latter. These findings refine temporal and multimodal profile of MF and highlight the need to optimize exercise parameters and task demands to enhance preventive efficacy and guide interventions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Motor memory under sleep deprivation: Can physical exercise support consolidation?

Sleep deprivation (SD) is increasingly prevalent and known to impair declarative memory, yet its impacts on the acquisition and consolidation of procedural skills remains unknown. Physical exercise has emerged as a promising intervention for promoting learning and plasticity, but its potential to mitigate SD-induced deficits has never been tested. Here, we investigated whether SD disrupts sequential motor learning (SML) and whether high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) performed after acquisition can influence consolidation. Forty-eight participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups combining one night of SD or normal sleep condition with HIIE or control intervention. SD elevated cortisol and sleepiness without affecting brain-derived neurotrophic factor or corticospinal excitability. Behaviorally, SD selectively impaired the movement time execution of SML acquisition, while HIIE reduced the movement accuracy during consolidation, regardless of sleep condition. These findings reveal a component-specific vulnerability of procedural memory to SD and challenge the assumption that exercise consistently enhances consolidation following motor learning.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

High-intensity interval exercise affects explicit sequential motor consolidation with both physical and mental practice

High-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) is known to enhance motor consolidation following physical practice (PP), but its effects on sequential motor learning (SML) through PP or motor imagery (MI) remain unclear. We examined whether HIIE modulates SML consolidation in 48 participants who learned an explicit SML task through PP or MI. Performance was assessed before and after acquisition, after HIIE or rest, and at 24 hours and 7 days. Both PP and MI improved performance, with greater gains for PP (p = 0.042), and both induced intracortical disinhibition (p = 0.03). HIIE increased BDNF (p = 0.044) and lactate levels (p < 0.001), markers typically linked to neuroplasticity, yet unexpectedly impaired SML at early (p < 0.01) and late consolidation (p < 0.05), without affecting excitability. These findings challenge the presumed coupling between exercise-induced biomarkers and behavioral gains, suggesting that HIIE may hinder consolidation when explicit components of motor learning are involved. Significance StatementHIIE is increasingly proposed as a tool to boost neuroplasticity and enhance motor learning. However, whether its benefits extend to all forms of learning remains unclear. Here, we show that both physical and motor imagery practice improve SML and induce intracortical disinhibition, a neurophysiological signature of plasticity. Surprisingly, HIIE impaired SML consolidation at both early and late stages, despite increases in BDNF and lactate, biomarkers typically linked to learning facilitation. This deterioration was observed across both practice modalities and is likely driven by the explicit, cognitively demanding nature of the task. These findings challenge the generalizability of HIIEs beneficial effects and highlight the need to align exercise-based interventions with the specific cognitive-motor demands of the learning task. Such insights are critical for optimizing motor learning strategies in both athletic training and neurorehabilitation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Decoding hypnotic consciousness: neural and experiential insights into induced and ideomotor suggestions

Hypnotic induction and ideomotor suggestions provide a powerful framework for investigating the remarkable capacity of verbal influence to reshape conscious experience, cognition, and motor control. We employed a multimodal approach combining high-density EEG, respiratory and behavioral monitoring, and first-person reports across three conditions: baseline resting state, progressive hypnotic induction (Light and Deep states), and an ideomotor task comparing a hypnotically suggested arm catalepsy to a voluntary simulation. EEG results revealed that light hypnosis was associated with early parieto-occipital alpha suppression and increased theta-band activity. As hypnosis deepened, frontoparietal connectivity increased in the theta while parasympathetic activation declined, challenging the view of hypnosis as a passive, low-arousal state and instead pointing to active top-down reorganization of large-scale brain networks. During the ideomotor state, participants exhibited distinct patterns of behavioral responsiveness, classified as tremblers and non-tremblers, despite reporting comparable disruptions in the sense of agency. Phenomenological analyses corroborated these distinctions, revealing that Tremblers attempted to move despite experiencing the action as involuntary or constrained, whereas Non-Tremblers refrained from acting due to a perceived impossibility or an inability to initiate the motor command. EEG connectivity analysis in Tremblers showed an increased frontoparietal gamma activity and reduced delta connectivity, suggesting heightened sensorimotor integration and greater executive monitoring under motor conflict. Together, these findings demonstrate that hypnosis engages dynamic top-down processes that reconfigure both neural connectivity and subjective experience depending on suggestion-types. They support predictive coding accounts of agency disruption and underscore the value of neurophenomenological methods for advancing consciousness science and informing clinical applications.

neuroscience↗