Table 1.
A summary of the 22 studies that examined motor and cognitive inhibition after an acute bout of exercise.
| Study | Participants | Task | Procedure and Exercise | Results | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | Neurophysiological Measures | ||||
| Include only behavioral measures | |||||
| Abe et al., 2018 [44] | Healthy older adults (n = 26, mean age: 71.8 ± 4.7 years) | Japanese version of the color-word Stroop task | Before and after 10 min of chair exercise, including stepping, stretching, finger movements or rest (control) that were performed in a randomized order. | Pre-to-post reduction in Stroop interference effects in all three exercise conditions. Significant difference only between control condition and finger movement exercise. | |
| Joyce et al., 2009 [48] | Young adults (n = 10, mean age: 23 ± 2 years) | Stop-signal task (SST) | (1) during 30 min of cycling on an ergometer at 40% maximal aerobic power; (2) between 0 and 22 min from exercise termination; (3) between 30 and 52 min from exercise termination. Control: Seated on the ergometer without cycling (same participants tested on different days). |
Go RT and SSRT decreased during exercise relative to rest. Beneficial effect of exercise on response execution (i.e., shorter Go RT) with maximum effect obtained around 40 min post exercise. No beneficial effect of exercise on SSRT. | |
| Netz et al., 2016 [52] | Middle-aged healthy active adults (n = 40, mean age: 51.88 ± 8.46 years). | Go/No-Go test and visuomotor skill test (Catch game test) | Before and after 25-min of treadmill walking at 60% HRR—experimental condition, or rest—control condition. Crossover design with 1 to 2 weeks between tests. | Pre-to-post improvement for both accuracy and RT immediately after the aerobic session was greater than the improvement in the control session. Performance scores returned to baseline levels at the follow-up test (30-min from the end of the aerobic session) No impact of exercise on visuomotor skills. |
|
| Nouchi et al., 2020 [53] | Middle-aged (n = 29, mean age: 55.00 ± 3.59 years) and older (n = 30, mean age: 69.73 ± 5.32 years) healthy females. | Color-Word Stroop task for inhibition Digit symbol codding task for short-term working memory. Mood state measure (POMS2) |
Two 12 min bouts of 12 resistance and aerobic exercises intervals followed by 6 min of stretching (intervention group) 30 min of rest (control group) |
Improvements in inhibition performances measured with the Stroop task. Improvement in inhibition was associated with improvement of mood. No pre-to-post changes in working memory |
|
| Pastor et al., 2019 [55] | Healthy adolescents (n = 35, mean age: 16.49 ± 0.79 years). | Color Stroop Test | Before and after a 20-min session of rest (theoretical physical education) or 20-min of physical activity at light/moderate or moderate/vigorous intensity (assessed with accelerometers). | Interference index of the Stroop task significantly increased from pre- to post-training session irrespective of intensity. No changes in the Interference index were observed after the rest session. | |
| Samani and Heath, 2018 [56] | Young adults (n = 26, age range: 19–26 years) divided into intervention group (n = 14) and passive controls (n = 12). | Anti-saccade task | Before and after a 10-min of cycling at moderate-to-vigorous intensity (60–85% HRmax; exercise group) or rest (passive control group). | Exercise group showed a significant decrease of the anti-saccade reaction time from pre- to post-exercise assessment. Exercise did not change the percentage of anti-saccade directional errors. | |
| Sibley et al., 2006 [57] | Young adults (n = 76, mean age: 22.50 ± 3.10 years) | Color Stroop Test and Stroop Negative Priming Test | Before and after a 20-min session of self-paced running/walking on a treadmill or rest in cross-over design. | Performance of the interference version of the Color Stroop task was faster following the exercise condition. Exercise intervention did not lead to a significant change in Stroop negative priming test performance. | |
| Sugimoto et al., 2020 [60] | Young men (n = 20, mean age: 21.0 ± 0.4 years) | Color-Word Stroop task |
Before, immediately after, and follow-up tests (in 10-min intervals) for 30 min after repetitive exercise (R-EX) combining two bouts of 20 min of moderate-intensity exercise (60% VO2 peak) separated by 20 min sitting rest Single bout (S-EX) of 40 min moderate-intensity exercise (60% VO2 peak); cross over design |
A significant decrease of the reverse-Stroop interference scores immediately after the end of exercise followed by a gradual return to baseline within 30 min post-intervention. No impact of exercise conditions on performance. No impact of exercise on mean arterial pressure, blood glucose levels, or blood lactate levels neither at the end of exercise nor at 30 min post-exercise recovery |
|
| Wilke, 2020 [61] | Young adults (n = 35, mean age: 26.7 ± 3.6 years) divided into three groups | Color-Word Stroop Test Trail Making Test (TMT) Digit Span Test (DST) |
Before and after 15 min of HIFT Including 30 sessions of 20 s all-out training bouts and 10 s rest (HIFT group) 15 min of treadmill walking at 60% HRR (WALK group) 15 min of rest (Control group) |
HIFT improved inhibitory control (Stroop interference effect decreased) and increased short-term/working memory (on the DST). No pre-to-post changes for WALK and Control |
|
| Wilke and Royé, 2020 [62] | Young adults (n = 24, mean age: 26 ± 4 years) | Color-Word Stroop Test Trail Making Test (TMT) Digit Span Test (DST) |
Before and after 15 min of FCT including 30 sessions of 20 s training bouts and 10 s rest periods at high (maximal effort), moderate (40–59% HRR) or low (20–39% HRR) intensity (cross-over design). | Exercise intensity did not significantly affect the magnitude of pre-to-post changes in performance. Trend towards an improvement on Stroop and TMT after moderate and high intensity FTC |
|
| Include only neurophysiological measures | |||||
| Mooney et al., 2016 [51] | Young adults (n = 10, mean age 23 ± 2 years) |
TMS-based assessments of corticomotor excitability (CME), cortical silent period (cSP), intracortical inhibition (SICI, LICI), and late cortical disinhibition (LCD). Measurements were taken before and 10–50 min after a 30-min session cycling at workload corresponding to 60% of peak VO2) or rest (seated stationary on the cycle ergometer). |
TMS: A transient decrease of LICI (downregulation of GABAB receptor) up to 20 min post-exercise. No significant changes in all other TMS measures. | ||
| Singh et al., 2014 [58] | Young adults (n = 12, average age: 28 years) | TMS-based assessments of CME, SICI, LICI, and intracortical facilitation (ICF) before and after a 20-min of cycling at 65–70% of age-predicted HRmax. | Pre-to-post decrease of SICI (downregulation of GABAA receptors) and LICI (GABAB receptors). Significant changes relative to pre were found only 30 min following exercise and only for SICI). Significant pre-to-post increase of ICF (significant change relative to pre-level was observed only imminently after the end of the exercise). No exercise-induced changes in CME. |
||
| Stavrinos and Coxon, 2017 [59] | Healthy adults (n = 24, average age = 23.63 ± 4.38 years; age range: 19–41 years). | Learning of a visuomotor skill | TMS-based assessments of corticomotor excitability, SICI and LICI before and after a 20-min session of high-intensity cycling (exercise group) or rest (control group). | Pre-to-post decrease of SICI (downregulation of GABAA receptors). Exercise-induced enhancement of motor skill consolidation. Significant positive association between downregulation of GABAA-receptor (reduced SICI) and offline skill improvement during retention. No exercise induced effect on corticomotor excitability or GABAB inhibition (LICI). |
|
| Include both behavioral and neurophysiological measures | |||||
| Akatsuka et al., 2015 [45] | Young healthy adults (n = 10, mean age: 19.8 years) | Go/no-go task | Before and after a 15-min treadmill running at 50% peak oxygen intake + 5 min rest Control: same participants, 20-min period of rest. | RT and % missed response decreased in post- as compared to pre-tests in both groups, but no significant group or time effects were seen. |
EEG recordings from seven scalp positions (Fz, Cz, Pz, FC3, FC4, PC3, and PC4). Significant augmentation of the no-go-N140 ERP components at Fz and Cz after performance of the moderate aerobic exercise. |
| Chu et al., 2015 [46] | Young healthy adults (n = 21, age range: 19–24 years) | Stop-signal task (SST) | Before and after a 30-min exercise session on a treadmill (5 min warm-up, 20 min exercise at 65–75% HRmax, and 5 min cool-down). Control: same participants, reading exercise-related articles for 30-min (tests conducted at least 24 h apart). | Stop-signal response time (SSRT): Exercise faster than control No changes in the go response time (go RT) neither after the exercise nor the control sessions. |
EEG recordings from 32 scalp position. ERPs were time-locked to the onset of the stop signal. Significant augmentation of the P3 component at Pz, Cz and Fz and a longer parietal P3 latency after the exercise session. |
| Hsieh et al., 2018 [47] | Young adult males (n = 24, mean age: 24.0 ± 3.1 years). Older adult males (n = 20, mean age: 70.0 ± 3.3 years). |
Modified Stroop Color-Word test | Before and 15 min after a 20-min bout of moderate intensity aerobic exercise (60–70% of HR reserve) on a treadmill. Exercise was preceded/followed by 5 min warm-up/cool-down. Control: same participants, watching a video relating to sport science for 30-min while sitting quietly (tests conducted at least 96 h apart). | RT were faster in exercise group than control during the congruent and incongruent trials. Stroop interference effects following exercise were smaller relative to those observed in the control group irrespective of age. |
EEG recordings from 64 scalp position (10–20 system). P3 and N450 components showed larger amplitudes in exercise relative to controls irrespective of age. Exercise-induced changes in response time interference were negatively correlated with exercise-induced changes in incongruent N450 amplitudes. |
| Mehren et al., 2019 [49] | Young adults (n = 23, mean age: 29.5 ± 7.0). (note: the study included young adults with ADHD as well—however, observations from these participants were not included in this review) |
Go/No-go task | Before and immediately after a 30-min moderate (50–70% HR max) exercise session on a cycle ergometer. control session: 30 min of watching a movie. | No effect of exercise on performance the Go/No-go task. |
fMRI: Significant effect of exercise on brain activation during the Go/No-go task during correct inhibition. BOLD signal responses within the left superior occipital gyrus (SOG), right precuneus (PCUN), and left supramarginal gyrus decreased in the exercise compared to the control condition. No significant associations with performance measures. |
| Mierau et al., 2014 [50] | Young children (n = 10 males, mean age: 5.8 ± 0.4 years) | Children’s version of the determination test (DTC). | Before and after a 45 min exercise (30 min of movement games followed by 15 min of a soccer match) or control condition (60 min of seated rest) in cross-over design. | Significant decrease in RT and significant increase of correct responses from pre to post but no significant effects for condition. | EEG: Significant increase of alpha-1 and significant decrease of beta-1 and beta-2 power bands after exercise. Pre to post changes in regional beta-1 and beta-2 power were detected in prefrontal but not in parietal, central, or occipital regions. |
| O’Leary et al., 2018 [54] | Young adults (n = 18, mean age: 26 ± 5 years). | MVC task | TMS-based assessment of cortical silent period (cSP) and long intracortical inhibition (LICI) before and after high-intensity exhaustive cycling session. Assessment of peripheral and central fatigue with motor nerve stimulation (MNS) and TMS. |
Post exercise reduction in knee extensor MVC torque. Post exercise increase in levels of peripheral and central fatigue. | Significant decrease of LICI (16 ± 14%) and cSP duration (−31 ± 28 s) due to exercise (both indicating downregulation of GABAB receptors). No post-exercise changes in MEP. |
| Xie et al., 2020 [63] | Obese young adults (n = 16, mean age: 24.50 ± 5.09 years) | Flanker task | Before and after 20 min of high intensity interval exercise (HIIE) including 10 sessions of ± 1 min of 80–90% maximal HR (HRmax) interspersed by 1 min of 50–65% HRmax active relax. (5 min warmup/cool down) Control condition: 30 min of rest (cross-over design). |
Shortening of RT after HIIE in both congruent and incongruent conditions of the Flanker task. No exercise induced changes in response accuracy. |
EEG recordings from 64 scalp position. ERPs were monitored 200 ms before to 1500 ms after the stimulus onset. No significant changes in the P3 amplitude. Significant augmentation of late positive potential (LPP) components of the ERPs at Fz after HIIE |
| Yanagisawa et al., 2010 [64] | Young adults (n = 20, mean age: 21.5 ± 4.8 years) | Stroop-interference task | Before and 15 min after a 10-min moderate aerobic exercise (50% Vo2 peak) or 25 min of rest (a cross over design). | Shortening of Stroop-interference reaction time after the acute exercise. | Findings from multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) revealed increased activation of the left DLPFC during the Stroop interferences task after the acute exercise. Stroop interference-related increase in the activation of DLPFC and shortening of Stroop-interference reaction time after the acute exercise were coincided. |
| Zimmer et al., 2016 [65] | Young adults (n = 121, mean age: 23.8 ± 3.6 years). | Stroop task | Before and after a 30-min session of aerobic exercise at low intensity (LI, n = 30; 45–50% of HRmax) moderate intensity (MI, n = 30; 65–70% of HRmax), or high intensity, (HI, n = 30; 85–90% of HRmax), or 30 min of rest (CG, n = 31). | Significant difference for Stroop parameter reading and a tendency for reverse Stroop effect. Significant pre-to-post decrease in reaction time for color reading task between the LI and HI. | Higher Serotonin (5-HT) serum concentration in the HI group after exercise. Higher 5-HT serum levels were associated with overall decreased reaction time on the Stroop task after exercise. |
5-HT, 5-hydroxytryptamine; BOLD, Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent; CME, corticomotor excitability; cSP, cortical silent period; DLPFC, Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex; DTC, Determination Test; EEG, Electroencephalogram; ERP, Event Related Potential; FCT, Functional Circuit Training; fMRI, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; fNIRS, Functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy; GABA, Gamma Aminobutyric Acid; HIFT, High Intensity Functional Training; HR, Heart Rate; ICF, Intracortical Facilitation; LCD, late cortical disinhibition; LICI, Long-interval Intracortical Inhibition; MNS, Motor Nerve Stimulation; MVC, Maximal Voluntary Contraction; PCUN, precuneus; RT, Reaction Time; SICI, Short-interval Intracortical Inhibition; SOG, superior occipital gyrus; SSRT, Stop signal response time; SST, Stop Signal Task; TMS, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.