PURPOSE: Here we investigated the activity of the cerebral cortex after resistance training in the elderly. We evaluated the clinical neuropsychological basis of 2 contractile types, and determined the usefulness of a movement-related cortical potential (MRCP) from an electroencephalography (EEG). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The subjects were 11 females and 11 males aged between 65 and 70 years. The subjects were randomly assigned into a group that performed an eccentric contraction exercise (experimental group I, n = 11) and a group that performed a concentric contraction exercise (experimental group II, n = 11). We measured activities of the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, and vastus lateralis in the non-dominant lower extremity by using surface electromyography (EMG), and measured brain activity using EEG before conducting an intervention. An intervention was conducted 40 minutes per session, once a day, 3 times a week for 4 weeks. RESULTS: After the intervention, activity in C4, the Cz area and rectus femoris were significantly different. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that MRCP from an EEG has the advantage of being non-invasive and cost-effective. Nonetheless, prospective studies are needed to reveal the specific mechanism underlying eccentric contraction exercise, which can provide baseline data for research related to aging and neural plasticity.

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