Modulatory effects of aerobic exercise on the autonomic nervous system in healthy subjects: A review.

Physical exercise is a practice of the physical activity programmed, periodized and timed. Thus, it can be subdivided into 2 specific types of practice, anaerobic and aerobic exercises. Resistance or aerobic exercises are the most practiced and easily accessible to the population. In this sense, the regular practice of exercise is capable of promoting modulations in several systems such as the autonomic system, in which sympathetic and parasympathetic reflexes are essential for homeostatic control. Thus, the objective of this study was to carry out, through a review, an investigation into the modulatory effects of aerobic exercise on the autonomic nervous system in healthy people. To carry out this work, articles were searched in the PUBMED database, with the descriptors "autonomic nervous system " and “aerobic exercise". We found 193 articles in the first search with the descriptors, but 9 articles were selected for this review. In this context, physical exercise produces modulatory effects on the post-exercise heart rate recovery time and modulates the levels of catecholamines that act on this autonomic system. Further investigations with a greater variety of physical exercises should be carried out, for future understanding of the modulatory effects in healthy individuals.