ArticlePhysical activity and nutrition2026
Effects of morning versus evening high-intensity exercise on electroencephalographic and autonomic responses in middle-aged women.
Article in Physical activity and nutrition, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe time of day at which exercise is performed influences physiological responses and performance, and thus its health benefits. This study investigated whether electroencephalographic (EEG) and autonomic nervous system responses to morning versus evening exercise differed in middle-aged women.
methodsThirty women aged 50-60 years were randomly assigned to a morning or evening exercise group. Participants were asked to sleep for seven to eight hours before testing. The morning group exercised at 6:00 am and the evening group at 6:00 pm. EEG-derived indices included the theta-to-beta ratio (TBR) and spectral edge frequency at 90% (SEF-90). Photoplethysmography-derived autonomic indices comprised the HRV index and HRV-derived sympathetic-related and parasympathetic-related indices, measured at rest before and immediately after exercise. Data were analyzed using a two-way mixed-design analysis of variance. For significant interactions, simple effects and change-score analyses were performed.
resultsTBR and SEF-90 showed significant group × time interactions, with greater changes from pre- to post-exercise in the morning group. TBR increased and SEF-90 decreased following exercise in both groups, with greater changes in the morning group. The HRV index showed only a significant main effect of time. However, HRV-derived sympathetic-related and parasympathetic-related indices demonstrated significant group × time interactions, with greater autonomic responses in the morning group, as measured by change scores.
conclusionEEG- and HRV-derived neurophysiological response patterns to high-intensity exercise may vary with exercise timing. Morning high-intensity exercise may elicit greater neurophysiological responses than evening exercise, highlighting the importance of exercise timing in training strategies and recovery.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.