Discrepancy Exercise Analysis

Exercise has been widely recommended as a beneficial rehabilitative tactic for patients suffering from a traumatic brain injury, as exercise interventions are associated with delayed memory decline, increased neuronal plasticity, promotion of recovery, and enhanced cognitive performance. However, the optimal intensity of the aerobic exercise for the intervention is largely unknown. Some existing studies in animal research show that intervention of exercise following traumatic brain injury may have no effect or even reduce effective cognitive functioning. The discrepancy in the existing literature indicates that this is a multi-factorial process, where exercise type, exercise intensity, exercise duration, and exercise frequency must be taken into consideration. Shen, Zhang, Dong et. al. strove to examine how exercise intensity affects recovery following a traumatic brain injury. The researchers hypothesized that low intensity treadmill exercise may be beneficial for recovery of function …show more content…
The low-intensity exercise group showed time-dependent improvements in cognitive function, while the high intensity showed less improvement. Overall, this study found the early initiation of low intensity treadmill exercise could significantly improve cognitive performance following a traumatic brain injury. However, high intensity exercise is not beneficial for cognitive recovery. This study validates the notion that the beneficial effects of exercise following a traumatic brain injury are dependent on both exercise type and exercise intensity. The findings of this study have significant implications for designing rehabilitative aerobic exercise plans. Since exercise does not have to be vigorous to be beneficial, this makes it far more practical to implement mild to moderate aerobic exercise interventions for a wide variety of patients following a traumatic brain