The effects of acute exercise on executive functioning, mood and attention

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event The effects of acute exercise on executive functioning, mood and attention Ashryn Ostler1* and Alison Bowling1 1 Southern Cross University, Psychology, School of Health and Human Sciences, Australia Aims: It is internationally recognised that exercise is beneficial—both physically and mentally. However, only a minority of published research has explored the unique contribution of the exercise task itself. We tested the effect an ‘acute bout of moderate exercise’ had on selective attention, executive function and mood. We hypothesised that acute exercise would improve mood and cognitive performance compared to the controls. Method: 29 females and 11 males aged between 18-50 (M=26.5, SD=8.8) were administered the Stroop Colour-Interference Test, Erikson Flanker Task and Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions (exercise or relaxation). The experimental group (N=20) performed 20 minutes of exercise on a treadmill. The control group (N=20) relaxed for 20 minutes. Measures were taken before and after the intervention. Results: An independent samples t-test compared the differences between post-test and pre-test for the two groups. Results revealed a significant difference between the exercise group and control group on the measures of mood. The exercise group reported increased positive affect (t(38) = 3.10, p = .004, d = .99) and decreased negative affect (t(38) = -3.24, p = .003, d = 1.0) on the post-test. No significant differences between the exercise and control groups were obtained for the two tasks of cognitive performance. Conclusions: A significant difference in the PANAS ratings following exercise offers strong support to earlier research demonstrating that acute exercise improves mood. Although no significant improvement in performance was observed in the two cognitive tasks following acute exercise, it is possible that fitness levels could be the relevant factor, rather than acute exercise as a task. Our findings did not support the hypothesis that acute exercise improves cognitive performance. Keywords: Affect, Attention, Acute Exercise, executive functioning, Stroop task, Eriksen Flanker task, Regular Exercise Conference: 12th Annual Psychology Research Conference, 2015, Coffs Harbour, Australia, 25 Sep - 26 Sep, 2015. Presentation Type: Research Topic: Psychology Citation: Ostler A and Bowling A (2015). The effects of acute exercise on executive functioning, mood and attention. Front. Psychol. Conference Abstract: 12th Annual Psychology Research Conference, 2015. doi: 10.3389/conf.fpsyg.2015.66.00027 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 23 Sep 2015; Published Online: 23 Sep 2015. * Correspondence: Ms. Ashryn Ostler, Southern Cross University, Psychology, School of Health and Human Sciences, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450, Australia, a.ostler.10@student.scu.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Ashryn Ostler Alison Bowling Google Ashryn Ostler Alison Bowling Google Scholar Ashryn Ostler Alison Bowling PubMed Ashryn Ostler Alison Bowling Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.