The Effect of Acute Concurrent Exercise on Inhibitory Control: An Event-related Potential Study

The present study aimed to determine the effects of acute concurrent exercise on inhibitory control via behavioral and event-related potential approaches and to examine its potential mediational role on lactate among younger adults. The main questions it aims to answer are: (1) Does acute concurrent exercise improve inhibitory control via behavioral and event-related potential approaches? (2) Does lactate play a potential mediational role in the effect of acute concurrent exercise on inhibitory control?

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Exercise; Cognition
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: concurrent exercise (CE); Behavioral: aerobic exercise (AE)

Detailed Description

The present study aimed to determine the effects of acute concurrent exercise (CE) on inhibitory control via behavioral and event-related potential approaches and to examine its potential mediational role on lactate. Participants were randomly assigned to either a CE, aerobic exercise (AE), or control (CON) group. Participants in the CE group engaged in 12-minutes of AE (40%-59% of heart rate reserve [HRR]) coupled with 13-minutes of resistance exercise (1 set, with 75% of 10-repetition maximum, and 12 repetitions of 8 movements). The AE group participated in 25 minutes of AE (40%-59% HRR). Prior to and following exercise onset, participants in both the CE and AE groups completed a 5-minute warm-up and cool-down. Participants in the CON group read books for 35 minutes. Lactate concentrations were measured at timepoint of 0-, 17-, and 30-minutes relative to the treatment onset. Response time (RT) and accuracy in the Stroop test, as well as P3 amplitudes, were assessed before and after the treatment.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 78
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Taiwan
  • Taipei, Taiwan, 106
    • Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged between 20 and 30 years
• able to exercise without undue risk (i.e., the first seven questions of the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone [PAR-Q+] were answered "No")
• right-handed dominance
• typical or corrected-to-typical eyesight
• limited physical activity in the previous month (i.e., < 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity physical activity)

Exclusion Criteria:

• psychiatric or neurological ailments
• cardiorespiratory or neuromuscular conditions
• obese status (body mass index [BMI] > 27 kg/m2)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: concurrent exercise (CE); Participants in the concurrent exercise group engaged in 12-minutes of aerobic exercise (40%-59% of heart rate reserve [HRR]) coupled with 13-minutes of resistance exercise (1 set, with 75% of 10-repetition maximum, and 12 repetitions of 8 movements). Prior to and following exercise onset, participants completed a 5-minute warm-up and cool-down.	Behavioral: concurrent exercise (CE); Participants in the concurrent exercise group engaged in 12-minutes of aerobic exercise (40%-59% of heart rate reserve [HRR]) coupled with 13-minutes of resistance exercise (1 set, with 75% of 10-repetition maximum, and 12 repetitions of 8 movements). Prior to and following exercise onset, participants completed a 5-minute warm-up and cool-down.
Experimental: aerobic exercise (AE); Participants in the aerobic exercise (AE) group participated in 25 minutes of AE (40%-59% of heart rate reserve [HRR]). Prior to and following exercise onset, participants completed a 5-minute warm-up and cool-down.	Behavioral: aerobic exercise (AE); Participants in the aerobic exercise (AE) group participated in 25 minutes of AE (40%-59% of heart rate reserve [HRR]). Prior to and following exercise onset, participants completed a 5-minute warm-up and cool-down.
No Intervention: control (CON); Participants in the control group read books for 35 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Inhibitory control	Inhibitory control was assessed using a modified computerized version of the Stroop test, which was administered through Neuroscan Stim2 software (Compumedics Neuroscan, Charlotte, NC). The test comprised four blocks, each consisting of 108 trials. Within each block, three types of trials were presented: neutral, congruent, and incongruent. The neutral trial involved displaying a square printed in red, green, or blue color. The congruent trial presented Chinese language prints in corresponding colors and words [i.e., 紅 (RED), 綠 (GREEN), or 藍 (BLUE)]. In contrast, the incongruent trial displayed Chinese language prints in different colors and words [e.g., 紅 (RED) printed in blue color]. Each block included 36 neutral trials, 36 congruent trials, and 36 incongruent trials. Participants were instructed to respond promptly and accurately to the color of the stimulus presented. Subsequently, the mean response time (RT) of correct trials and accuracy for each Stroop condition were examined.	30 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Blood lactate	Blood lactate levels were assessed using fingertip samples measured with a lactate analyzer (The EDGE, Taipei, Taiwan) at three distinct time points: Timepoint 1 (prior to the commencement of treatment), Timepoint 2 (17 minutes after the initiation of treatment), and Timepoint 3 (30 minutes after the start of treatment).	Timepoint 1 (prior to the commencement of treatment), Timepoint 2 (17 minutes after the initiation of treatment), and Timepoint 3 (30 minutes after the start of treatment).

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National Taiwan Normal University
• Investigators: Study Chair: Yu-Kai Chang, PhD, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University; Principal Investigator: Ruei-Hong Li, MS, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 15, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 15, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): February 15, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 12, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 12, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): April 17, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 18, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 16, 2024
• Last Verified: April 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: PACNL_rueihongli_CE_IC

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No