Male practitioners of physical activity present lower absolute power of beta band in time perception test

Abstract

Cortical changes resulting from physical activity and differences in the estimation of the time of practitioners and non-practitioners of physical activity have already been documented. However, there aren't studies that compare the cortical responses of the time estimate between these groups. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the influence of the level of physical activity in time estimation and beta band activity in frontal regions, specifically in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and parietal cortex during the task of estimating time in practitioners and non-practitioners of physical activity. After characterizing the sample, the signal was captured using an electroencephalogram during a task to estimate the time of four intervals of supraseconds. The results indicated that the practitioners of physical activity had lower errors in the evaluation of time for the intervals of 1 s, 7 s, and 9 s. The beta band showed less activity among practitioners of physical activity. The correlation between task performance and the absolute power of the beta band proved to be positive in the task of estimating time in the 7 s, and 9 s intervals. It was concluded that participants involved in the regular practice of physical activity showed underestimation in the temporal judgment and lower absolute power of the beta band during the time estimate.

Keywords: Electroencephalography; Physical exercise; Supraseconds; Time estimation.