The experimental intervention: both exercise and calorie restriction, as described below:

Exercise intervention. 6 months, 72 supervised aerobic exercise training sessions on cycle ergometers, including 3 sessions of training per week. A warm-up procedure consisting of 5 min of low-intensity stretching was completed by all women before the aerobic training. Subsequently, a 50 min aerobic training at an intensity between 60% and 70% of the maximum heart rate (HR) was performed. Thereafter, a cool-down consisting of 5 min of low-intensity stretching and breathing exercises was completed. HR was recorded continuously throughout the training sessions using an HR monitor (S625X, Polar Electro, Kempele, Finland).

Calorie restriction intervention. The CR intervention was designed to create a 12.5% energy deficit, with the goal of reducing body weight by 5%-10% over 6 months.

No intervention and participants were instructed to maintain their regular physical activity and diet regime for 6 months; they were also prohibited from participating in any weight-loss or exercise program.

both a 6-month aerobic exercise program (moderate intensity) and caloric restriction (12.5% energy deficit)

weight (TBF-300 body composition scale; Tanita, UK Ltd., UK) was measured while the participants wore only underwear and were barefoot.

Mood was assessed using the 24-item Brunel Mood Scale, which estimates anger, confusion, depression, fatigue, tension, and vigor. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale anchored by 0 (not at all) and 4 (extremely), according to how participants feel "right now."

Venous blood samples (5 mL) were collected and allowed to clot at room temperature. Serum was then separated by centrifugation for 15 min at 1,200 g (room temperature) and stored at -80°C until analysis. BDNF were measured using an enzyme-linked immunoassay system (Gemini; Stratec Biomedical, Birkenfeld, Germany).

Body height was measured in meters with an accuracy of 5 mm

Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics Version 4 (ANAM-4; Vista Life, USA) was used to measure neurocognitive skills: motor reaction time, mental flexibility, mathematical processing, working memory, visual scanning and associative learning skills. Participants were familiarized with the test battery twice before the experiments.

Assessment of brain activity was performed on a continuous wave system (fNIR Imager 1100, fNIR Devices LLC, Potomac, MA, United States) using a flexible 16 optode probe set. The sensor has a temporal resolution of 500 ms per scan with a 2.5 cm source-detector separation allowing for approximately 1.25 cm penetration depth and 16 measurement locations on a rectangular grid covering the forehead region, designed to observe dorsal and inferior frontal cortical areas.

weight (TBF-300 body composition scale; Tanita, UK Ltd., UK) was measured while the participants wore only underwear and were barefoot.