Causes and Consequences of Interindividual Response Variability: A Call to Apply a More Rigorous Research Design in Acute Exercise-Cognition Studies

The different responses of humans to an apparently equivalent stimulus are called interindividual response variability. This phenomenon has gained more and more attention in research in recent years. The research field of exercise-cognition has also taken up this topic, as shown by a growing number...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in physiology 2021-07, Vol.12, p.682891-682891
Main Authors: Herold, Fabian, Törpel, Alexander, Hamacher, Dennis, Budde, Henning, Zou, Liye, Strobach, Tilo, Müller, Notger G., Gronwald, Thomas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
acute physical exercise
cognition
exercise prescription
interindividual variability
intraindividual variability
neuroscience
Physiology
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Summary:The different responses of humans to an apparently equivalent stimulus are called interindividual response variability. This phenomenon has gained more and more attention in research in recent years. The research field of exercise-cognition has also taken up this topic, as shown by a growing number of studies published in the past decade. In this perspective article, we aim to prompt the progress of this research field by (i) discussing the causes and consequences of interindividual variability, (ii) critically examining published studies that have investigated interindividual variability of neurocognitive outcome parameters in response to acute physical exercises, and (iii) providing recommendations for future studies, based on our critical examination. The provided recommendations, which advocate for a more rigorous study design, are intended to help researchers in the field to design studies allowing them to draw robust conclusions. This, in turn, is very likely to foster the development of this research field and the practical application of the findings.
ISSN:1664-042X
1664-042X
DOI:10.3389/fphys.2021.682891