Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate if there is a physiological effect of acute and chronic exercise on visual evoked potentials (VEP) independent from the body temperature increase.

Material and Methods: Study group was designed as 9 female and 7 male volleyball players whereas the control group as 9 female and 7 male students who were not actively involved in any sportive activity. The N75, P100, and N145 latency and amplitude values were measured before and after exercise in the study. Intragroup comparison was made to evaluate the acute effects of exercise, and intergroup comparison for the chronic effects of it.

Results: Significant differences were observed between sportsmen and sedantery girls and boys in terms of pre-exercise left N145 latencies and amplitudes and left P100 amplitudes respectively (p<0.05). Right eye N145 latencies of inactive girls obtained before and after exercise were also statistically different (p<0.05).

Conclusion: This study supports the viewpoint that regularly executed acute and chronic exercises affect the VEP responses unrelated from the body temperature and other physiological parameters. Small sized pre-exercise P100 amplitudes in the sportsmen can be explained by central nervous system effects of the exercise types which demand rapid visual activities. Visual evoked potentials can also be used as a neuro-physiological criteria in defining the performances of sportmen.