The present study aimed to investigate whether acute moderate-intensity exercise led to a selective effect on executive function tasks or general effect on cognitive tasks that involve executive function and basic information processing in young adults. Besides, we also aimed to examine acute exercise’s effect on multiple ERP components (e.g., P2, N2, P3b, and N450) to expand previous research. Seventy-two young adults were randomly assigned to the exercise or control groups. The Stroop task was administrated before and after treatments (exercise or reading), and the P2, N2, P3b, and N450 components of the Event-Related Potential (ERP) waveform were recorded and analyzed. Larger P2 amplitudes on both congruent and incongruent tasks were observed following acute exercise. Acute exercise did not influence accuracy or response time, and no effects on N2, P3b, and N450 components were found. These findings suggest that acute moderate-intensity exercise may have a generally beneficial effect on mobilization of attentional resources related to perceptual processing and exercise-related physiological arousal.

This study aimed to examine whether the regular open-skill exercise led to a selective improvement or a general improvement on cognitive function in healthy young males. Besides, we also intend to expand previous studies by looking into the temporal dynamics of early information processes and cognitive processes through appraising the extensive temporal series of stimulus-locked ERP components. Sixty healthy young males were classified into two groups: those who regularly participated in the open-skill exercise for at least 2 years (n = 30), and those who exercised rarely. The participants conducted the Stroop task with event-related brain potential (ERP) recorded. The results indicated that compared with the rare exercise group, the open-skill exercise group led to a selective improvement for accuracy under the incongruent condition. And the open-skill exercise group also led to a selective improvement for response time under the incongruent condition. Moreover, the open-skill exercise group yielded larger P200 amplitudes under both the congruent and incongruent conditions compared with the rare exercise group. The findings suggest that the regular open-skill exercise may promote executive function by an increase in the allocation of attentional resources related to perceptual processing and greater interference control during cognitively demanding tasks in healthy young males.