Cognitively demanding motor exercise and subsequent inhibitory control: Behavioral and ERP Evidence.

Purpose

Acute exercise can influence executive function, yet conventional exercise prescriptions primarily characterize its physical dose and rarely specify the cognitive operations embedded within the exercise bout. Using a Motor-Cognitive Integrated Task (MCIT) with conditions differing in cognitive demand while involving comparable physical demands, this study examined whether cognitively demanding motor exercise was associated with differences in subsequent behavioral and neurophysiological indices of inhibitory control.

Methods

Forty healthy young adults completed two counterbalanced sessions separated by at least 24 h. In the experimental session, participants performed the MCIT, which required whole-body responses to flanker stimuli. In the control session, participants performed the same motor task in response to predictable single-arrow stimuli. Heart rate (HR), physical rating of perceived exertion (RPE), cognitive RPE, response time (RT), movement time (MT), and overall response time (RMT) were assessed during the MCIT. Immediately afterward, participants completed a computerized flanker task while electroencephalography was recorded.

Results

Cognitive RPE, RT and RMT of the MCIT were higher in the experimental session than in the control session, whereas HR, physical RPE, and MT of the MCIT were comparable across sessions. Following the MCIT, participants showed a smaller flanker interference in the experimental than in the control session, accompanied by differences in conflict-related modulation of the N2 and smaller overall P3 amplitude, with no between-session difference in accuracy.

Conclusions

Cognitive demand may represent a manipulable characteristic of acute exercise prescription beyond physical intensity alone. Motor exercise incorporating greater cognitive demands was associated with reduced subsequent behavioral interference and differences in N2 and P3 modulation. Although these effects cannot be attributed exclusively to any specific cognitive operation, the findings highlight the potential importance of considering the cognitive characteristics of exercise when examining its acute neurocognitive effects.