Executive Function Predicts Affective Responses During Exercise

PURPOSE: Examine whether pre-exercise executive function (EF) ability predicts affective responses to an acute bout of running. METHODS: Healthy young adults (N = 28, 22.5 ± 3.3 yrs; 75% ♀, BMI = 24.9 ± 4.4 kg·m-2) completed the Flanker and N-back tasks (2-back, 3-back), rested 5-min, and completed 31-min of moderate-to-vigorous intensity (HR = 158.6 ± 9.9 b·min-1) treadmill running. During the treadmill session, Feeling Scale (FS), Felt Arousal Scale (FAS) and Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) were recorded every 3-min. FS, FAS, and RPE scores were computed as the average across the 3-minute intervals. Inhibitory control was the average reaction time (RT) for correct responses in the incongruent trials. Working memory (WM) performance was the average RT for correct responses for each level of difficulty (i.e., 2-back, 3-back). Separate multiple regressions were conducted to examine whether WM performance and inhibitory control significantly predicted affective responses (i.e., FS, FAS) to exercise. Results are reported as standardized coefficients (β). RESULTS: Multiple regressions indicated that 2-back (β = -0.54, t(21) = -2.58, P 0.02), 3-back (β = -1.29, t(21) = -2.49, P = 0.02), and Flanker (β = -0.45, t(20) = -2.28, P = 0.03) predicted affective valence (FS) to exercise. Neither of the EF measures significantly predicted arousal (P > 0.05). Follow-up regressions were conducted to examine the strength of the relationship of inhibitory control (i.e., Flanker) and WM (i.e., 2-back, 3-back) on valence. Models included either Flanker and 2-back or Flanker and 3-back. Neither model revealed a significant predictor. However, standardized coefficients for 2-back and 3-back were large (βs = -0.41, -0.43) compared to Flanker (β’s = -0.25, -0.25) indicating the lack of significance is likely due to lack of power. CONCLUSIONS: Participants with faster RT to EF tasks prior to exercise reported feeling more positive while engaging in moderate-to-vigorous exercise compared to their counterparts. Findings also suggest that WM performance may have a stronger effect on valence than inhibitory control. This has implications for considering the role of pre-exercise EF directly on influencing affective valence during exercise and habitual physical activity behavior.