Effects of acute aerobic exercise on response preparation in a Go/No Go Task in children with ADHD: An ERP study

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of acute exercise on reaction time and response preparation during a Go/No Go Task in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).. Methods: Nineteen children with ADHD (aged between 8 and 12 years old) undertook a 30-min intervention that consisted of treadmill running or video-watching presented in a counterbalanced order on different days. A Go/No Go Task was administrated after exercise or video-watching. Results: The results indicated a shorter reaction time and smaller contingent negative variation (CNV) 2 amplitude following exercise relative to the video-watching. For event related potential (ERP) analyses, greater CNV 1 and CNV 2 amplitudes in response to No Go stimuli in comparison to Go stimuli was observed in the video-watching session only. Conclusion: These findings suggest that acute exercise may benefit children with ADHD by developing appropriate response preparation, particularly in maintaining a stable motor preparatory set prior to performing the given task.

Effects of an 8-week yoga program on sustained attention and discrimination function in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

“…Additionally, for children with ADHD, even a single bout of exercise has been found to contribute to response preparation (Chuang et al, 2015) and task switching (Hung et al, 2016), and physical fitness has been associated with baseline cortical activity (Huang et al, 2015) and inhibitory ability (Tsai et al, in press). The mechanisms of physical activity effects on ADHD children’s cognitive function may be due to brain structure changes, enhanced neurotransmitters, and arousal regulation (Lustig et al, 2009; Tang et al, 2008).…”

Exercise for Cognitive Improvement and Rehabilitation (EXCIR) Improves Attention and Executive Functions in Children with ADHD

“…Previous studies showed effectiveness of either physical activity [45,46] and cognitive training [30][31][32][33][34][35] on the improvement of cognitive functions particularly executive functions. Although enhancing effects of physical activity on cognitive functions have been documented [47,48], there is intriguing evidence that physical activity in a cognitively-engaging context has a stronger impact on cognitive functions especially executive functions [49].…”

Actividad física y TDAH: evidencia sobre el desarrollo, efectos neurocognitivos a corto y largo plazo y sus aplicaciones

“…Dos estudios utilizaron un protocolo de 20 minutos corriendo en la cinta rodante a una intensidad moderada (frecuencia cardíaca entre 150 a 170 lpm) precedidos por 5 minutos de calentamiento y seguidos por otros 5 minutos de vuelta a la calma. Ambos estudios revelaron mejoras significativas en la cognición después de realizar ejercicio; mientras que después de hacer actividades sedentarias observaron mejoras significativas en tiempo de reacción e inhibición (Chuang, Tsai, Chang, Huang, & Hung, 2015;Medina et al, 2010). Adicionalmente, Chuang y colegas (2015) realizaron encefalogramas los cuales revelaron alteraciones neurológicas y significativas en los procesos de atención y preparación durante las tareas realizadas después del ejercicio.…”