Together towards better executive functions? Effects of acute cognitively demanding physical activity and social interaction on inhibition

IF 2.3 3区医学 Q2 PSYCHIATRY

Mental Health and Physical Activity Pub Date : 2024-10-01 DOI:10.1016/j.mhpa.2024.100640

Cäcilia Zehnder , Marion Gasser , Sofia Anzeneder , Anna Lisa Martin-Niedecken , Caterina Pesce , Mirko Schmidt , Valentin Benzing

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background and aims

Research has shown that acute physical activity (PA) improves inhibition performance. However, further information is needed on potential moderators that may influence this effect. Since social interaction (SoI) was proposed as an important PA characteristic influencing the PA-inhibition relation, this study examines the effects of acute PA and SoI on inhibition.

Methods

In a 2

\times

2 within-subject design, 96 participants (17–26 years, M = 20.5; SD = 1.7, 50% female) underwent four experimental conditions, consisting of a cognitively challenging (exer-)game varying in PA (PA/no PA) and SoI (SoI/no SoI). After each condition, inhibition performance was assessed using the Eriksen Flanker Task.

Results

Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed that acute PA enhanced inhibition, leading to faster reaction times (ƞ²_p = 0.169) and higher accuracy rates (ƞ²_p = 0.090). However, the results showed speed-accuracy trade-offs for SoI, with faster reaction times (ƞ²_p = 0.041) and lower accuracy rates (ƞ²_p = 0.140). No interaction effects for PA and SoI on inhibition were observed (ƞ²_ps = 0.005–0.036).

Conclusion

Our findings confirm that an acute bout of cognitively challenging PA can enhance inhibition performance but has no joint effects with SoI, which facilitated performance speed but worsened accuracy. Likely, the physically and cognitively challenging nature of the exergaming bout may have limited room for further improvement by SoI. Future acute PA studies should jointly explore the role of SoI and cognitive engagement in acute PA to identify an optimal pattern of task and context factors for reaping executive functions (EFs) gains.

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携手提高执行功能？急性认知要求体育活动和社交互动对抑制的影响

背景和目的研究表明，急性体力活动（PA）可提高抑制能力。然而，还需要进一步了解可能影响这一效果的潜在调节因素。方法96名参与者（17-26岁，中=20.5；标度=1.7，50%为女性）在2×2受试内设计的四种实验条件下进行了实验，其中包括一个具有认知挑战性的（运动）游戏，游戏中的运动量（运动量/无运动量）和社会交往（社会交往/无社会交往）各不相同。结果重复测量方差分析显示，急性 PA 增强了抑制能力，从而导致更快的反应时间（ƞ2p = 0.169）和更高的准确率（ƞ2p = 0.090）。然而，结果表明，SoI 在速度和准确性之间存在权衡，反应时间更快（ƞ2p = 0.041），准确率更低（ƞ2p = 0.140）。结论我们的研究结果证实，具有认知挑战性的急性 PA 可以提高抑制能力，但与 SoI 没有共同作用，SoI 可以提高反应速度，但会降低准确率。体能和认知挑战性的游戏可能限制了SoI的进一步提高空间。未来的急性运动能力研究应共同探讨SoI和认知参与在急性运动能力中的作用，以确定获得执行功能（EFs）收益的最佳任务和情境因素模式。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Mental Health and Physical Activity PSYCHIATRY-

CiteScore

6.70

自引率

6.40%

发文量

审稿时长

32 days

期刊介绍： The aims of Mental Health and Physical Activity will be: (1) to foster the inter-disciplinary development and understanding of the mental health and physical activity field; (2) to develop research designs and methods to advance our understanding; (3) to promote the publication of high quality research on the effects of physical activity (interventions and a single session) on a wide range of dimensions of mental health and psychological well-being (eg, depression, anxiety and stress responses, mood, cognitive functioning and neurological disorders, such as dementia, self-esteem and related constructs, psychological aspects of quality of life among people with physical and mental illness, sleep, addictive disorders, eating disorders), from both efficacy and effectiveness trials;