Efficacy of whole body vibration on neurocognitive parameters in women with and without lumbar hyper-lordosis

Introduction: The prevalence of lumbar hyper-lordosis is high in young women. Considering the previous studies into the effects of the whole body vibration (WBV) on the physiological parameters, the present study aimed to evaluate the immediate effects of WBV on the neurocognitive parameters in women with and without lumbar hyper-lordosis.

Method: A total of 15 women with normal lumbar lordosis and 15 women with lumbar hyper-lordosis participated in the study. The effects of the WBV (30 Hz, 5 mm, and 5 min) on the visual and auditory reaction time and anticipatory skills were assessed using the Speed Anticipation Reaction Time (SART) Test.

Results: The results indicated that the auditory complex choice reaction time decreased, and the anticipation skill with high speed increased after the WBV in women with normal lumbar lordosis (P = 0.01, P = 0.01, respectively). Additionally, the visual choice reaction time in women with lumbar hyperlordosis significantly decreased after WBV intervention. Although other variables in the two groups decreased after vibration, these changes were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that WBV had positive immediate effects on the reaction time in both groups, however, it had negative effects on anticipatory skill with high speed in women with normal lumbar lordosis; these negative effects appeared to be due to mental fatigue in the participants. This finding indicated WBV had the potential to enhance neuro-cognition. Therefore, further evaluations with different study settings and populations should be conducted.