The examination of affective-cognitive interactions in the context of acute exercise

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of in-task affective responses (i.e., valence) and perception of effort during an acute bout of exercise on aspects of executive function (EF), specifically inhibitory control and working memory. Furthermore, this study investigates the relationship between affect and EF performance at rest. METHODS: Using a within-subjects pre-post cross-over design, 28 healthy young adults (22.5 ± 3.2 yrs; 75% ♀; BMI = 24.9 ± 4.4 kg·m-2) completed the Flanker and N-back (2-back, 3-back) tasks before and after completing 31-min of seated rest (CON) or moderate-to-vigorous intensity (HR = 158.6 ± 9.9 b·min-1) treadmill running (EX) on separate days. The Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List (AD ACL) was completed prior to participants completing pre-session Flanker and N-back tasks. During EX, participants completed the Feeling Scale (FS) and Borg’s Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale at 3-minute intervals. Affective valence (FS) and RPE scores were computed as the average across all of the 3-minute intervals. During CON, participants completed FS at the same 3-minute intervals. The AD ACL yields four subcategories representing perceived energy, tiredness, tension, and calmness. Inhibitory control was calculated as the average reaction time (RT) for correct responses in the incongruent trials. Working memory performance was calculated as the average RT for correct responses for each level of difficulty (i.e., 2-back, 3-back). Separate regression models were conducted to investigate the influence of FS and RPE on change in EF from pre-post. Correlations were used to examine the relationship between measures of AD ACL and EF. RESULTS: RTs across EF measures were significantly faster at post-test compared to pre-test for both EX and CON. FS during exercise was not a significant predictor (P’s > .19) of changes in EF. Lastly, pre-test EF strongly moderated the effect of exercise on EF after the exercise ended. Feelings of calmness were observed to have a moderate relationship on 2-back RT (r = -.38, p < .05). CONCLUSION. Affective valence and perceptions of effort were not significant predictors of the effect of exercise on EF in this relatively healthy and physically active sample. Higher levels of calmness were significantly related to faster working memory reaction time. Future studies should examine the impact of affective responses to exercise on EF in a physically inactive and/or sedentary population.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Kinesiology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Adamek, John F

Contributors dc:contributor

• Petruzzello, Steven J
• Gothe, Neha
• Khan, Naiman A
• Kern, Justin L

• Physical Activity
• Cognition
• Executive Function
• Cognitive Function
• Affect
• Core Affect
• Valence
• Acute Exercise
• Inhibitory Control
• Working Memory

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 John Adamek

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124303

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124303