A Compareson of Focus of Attention and BDNF Caused by Endurance Exercise in Non-Athlete Boys and Girls

The aim of this study was to compare the effect of endurance exercise on the level of focus of attention and brain derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) in non-athlete male and female students and to investigate the relationship between variations in these factors. 30 non-athlete students (mean age 24.1.6 years) were assigned to 4 groups: males, females, male control and female control based on the Stroop pretest. After blood samples were collected, they continued their endurance exercises for 5 weeks, 3 sessions per week, 40 min. each session with the intensity of 70-85% maximum heart rate based on the endurance exercise protocol. Results showed that endurance exercise significantly increased BDNF in both male and females) P0.05), but level of BDNF was significantly more in female group than the male group (P0.05). Finally, according to these findings, it seems that endurance exercise can increase BDNF level and improve focus, but there are possible differences between males and females that need further research.