Acute effect of vigorous aerobic exercise on the inhibitory control in adolescents

Abstract

Objective:To assess the acute effect of vigorous aerobic exercise on the inhibitory control in adolescents.Methods:Controlled, randomized study with crossover design. Twenty pubertal individuals underwent two 30-minute sessions: (1) aerobic exercise session performed between 65% and 75% of heart rate reserve, divided into 5 min of warm-up, 20 min at the target intensity and 5 min of cool down; and (2) control session watching a cartoon. Before and after the sessions, the computerized Stroop test-Testinpacs™ was applied to evaluate the inhibitory control. Reaction time (ms) and errors (n) were recorded.Results:The control session reaction time showed no significant difference. On the other hand, the reaction time of the exercise session decreased after the intervention (p<0.001). The number of errors made at the exercise session were lower than in the control session (p=0.011). Additionally, there was a positive association between reaction time (Δ) of the exercise session and age (r 2=0.404, p=0.003).Conclusions:Vigorous aerobic exercise seems to promote acute improvement in the inhibitory control in adolescents. The effect of exercise on the inhibitory control performance was associated with age, showing that it was reduced at older age ranges.

Physical education class can improve acute inhibitory control in elementary school students

“…In addition, Yanagisawa et al 25 showed that exercise in moderate intensity improves cognitive performance and increases activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Accordingly, results reported by a seminal study by Browne, Costa, Sales, Fonteles, Moraes, Barros 13 showing a decreased reaction time after physical exercise in children.…”

“…A meta-analysis demonstrated that exercise intensity may be a key factor to promote acute effects on cognitive performance 23 , as a recent investigation showed that moderate exercise intensity improved cognitive performance in students 13 . However, differences between the present study and Browne, Costa, Sales, Fonteles, Moraes, Barros 13 may be related to the exercise intensity and exercise mode used in the physical activities.…”

“…In this regard, although having a similar exercise mode between studies, we used intermittent exercises in the PEC, while Browne, Costa, Sales, Fonteles, Moraes, Barros13 used continuous exercises. Briefly, participants performed ~50 minutes of moderate intensity PEC (according to the Borg's scale 16 ) in the present study, while a moderate-to-vigorous intensity (i.e., 65-75% HR RESERVE ) was used by Browne, Costa, Sales, Fonteles, Moraes, Barros 13 . Additionally, a study by Browne, Costa, Sales, Fonteles, Moraes, Barros 13 was conducted in a laboratory, thus probably limiting inferences to real-world situations due to the poor ecological validity, as performing PEC by using regular exercise on treadmills and cycle ergometers may be unrealistic for children.…”

“…The computerized version of the Stroop Test 18 was used (Inquisit ® ) 13 in order to provide reaction time (total test time), time of response to every stimulus (congruent, incongruent and control), as well as successful and unsuccessful responses as outcomes. The test combines four colors (i.e.…”

“…Therefore, strategies to improve IC in children have been the focus of several studies [10][11][12] . For example, researches demonstrate the beneficial effects of physical activity on cognitive functioning 10,11,13,14 . Among children, recently published data has shown that acute aerobic exercise at moderate intensity (65-75% heart rate [HR RESERVE ]) improved IC measured immediately following the exercise session 13 .…”