Acute aerobic exercise and information processing: energizing motor processes during a choice reaction time task.

The immediate and short-term after effects of a bout of aerobic exercise on young adults' information processing were investigated. Seventeen participants performed an auditory two-choice reaction time (RT) task before, during, and after 40 min of ergometer cycling. In a separate session, the same sequence of testing was completed while seated on an ergometer without pedalling. Results indicate that exercise (1) improves the speed of reactions by energizing motor outputs; (2) interacts with the arousing effect of a loud auditory signal suggesting a direct link between arousal and activation; (3) gradually reduces RT and peaks between 15 and 20 min; (4) effects on RT disappear very quickly after exercise cessation; and (5) effects on motor processes cannot be explained by increases in body temperature caused by exercise. Taken together, these results support a selective influence of acute aerobic exercise on motor adjustment stage.

[1]  Minoru Shinohara,et al.  The ventilatory threshold gives maximal lactate steady state , 2004, European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology.

[2]  Saul Sternberg,et al.  The discovery of processing stages: Extensions of Donders' method , 1969 .

[3]  A. Sanders.  Towards a model of stress and human performance. , 1983, Acta psychologica.

[4]  Andries F. Sanders,et al.  Elements of Human Performance: Reaction Processes and Attention in Human Skill , 1998 .

[5]  Arthur F Kramer,et al.  Exercise, experience and the aging brain , 2002, Neurobiology of Aging.

[6]  F. Paas,et al.  Exercise-induced arousal and information processing. , 1997 .

[7]  N. R. Ellis,et al.  Effects of exercise on cognitive processes: A review. , 1986 .

[8]  Karen Davranche,et al.  Critical Flicker Frequency Threshold Increment After an Exhausting Exercise , 2005 .

[9]  A. Sanders,et al.  A suppressing effect of response selection on immediate arousal in a choice reaction task. , 1978, Acta Psychologica.

[10]  Andries F. Sanders,et al.  The Foreperiod Effect Revisited , 1975 .

[11]  E. Bizzi,et al.  The Cognitive Neurosciences , 1996 .

[12]  B. Bergum,et al.  Attention and Performance VI , 1978 .

[13]  R. Meeusen,et al.  Exercise and Brain Neurotransmission , 1995, Sports medicine.

[14]  M. Audiffren,et al.  Facilitating effects of exercise on information processing , 2004, Journal of sports sciences.

[15]  B. Burle,et al.  [Treatment dynamics in sensorimotor disorders: the contribution of electrophysiology]. , 2002, Canadian journal of experimental psychology = Revue canadienne de psychologie experimentale.

[16]  H. Huynh,et al.  Estimation of the Box Correction for Degrees of Freedom from Sample Data in Randomized Block and Split-Plot Designs , 1976 .

[17]  R. R. Robey.  Reporting point and interval estimates of effect-size for planned contrasts: fixed within effect analyses of variance. , 2004, Journal of fluency disorders.

[18]  F G Paas,et al.  Human information processing during physical exercise. , 1991, Ergonomics.

[19]  B. Burle,et al.  Information processing during physical exercise: a chronometric and electromyographic study , 2005, Experimental Brain Research.

[20]  H. Krysztofiak,et al.  Psychomotor performance during prolonged exercise above and below the blood lactate threshold , 1997, European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology.

[21]  T. Robbins,et al.  Arousal systems and attention. , 1995 .

[22]  M. W. van der Molen,et al.  Phasic heart rate change and the U-shaped relationship between choice reaction time and auditory signal intensity. , 1980, Psychophysiology.

[23]  Yoshiyuki Matsuura,et al.  Relationships of the anaerobic threshold with the 5 km, 10 km, and 10 mile races , 2004, European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology.

[24]  J. Brisswalter,et al.  Interactions entre les processus physiologiques et cognitifs: modèles théoriques et approche méthodologique , 1996 .

[25]  K. McGraw,et al.  Forming inferences about some intraclass correlation coefficients. , 1996 .

[26]  Robert E. Thayer,et al.  Problem perception, optimism, and related states as a function of time of day (diurnal rhythm) and moderate exercise: Two arousal systems in interaction , 1987 .

[27]  P. Thompson,et al.  ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription , 1995 .

[28]  J. H. van der Hoeven,et al.  Supernormal muscle fiber conduction velocity during intermittent isometric exercise in human muscle. , 1994, Journal of applied physiology.

[29]  D. Meyer,et al.  Attention and Performance XIV , 1973 .

[30]  J. Brisswalter,et al.  Selective Effects of Physical Exercise on Choice Reaction Processes , 1998, Perceptual and motor skills.

[31]  Thierry Hasbroucq,et al.  Dynamique du traitement de l'information sensorimotrice : apport de l'électrophysiologie , 2002 .

[32]  P. Macrae,et al.  Fractionated Reaction Time in Women as a Function of Age and Physical Activity Level , 1996 .

[33]  J. Fleiss,et al.  Intraclass correlations: uses in assessing rater reliability. , 1979, Psychological bulletin.

[34]  W. Spirduso,et al.  Systematic aerobic exercise and components of reaction time in older women. , 1988, Journal of gerontology.

[35]  P. Clarkson.  The effect of age and activity level on simple and choice fractionated response time , 1978, European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology.

[36]  P. Freedson,et al.  Onset of metabolic acidosis (anaerobic threshold) as a criterion measure of submaximum fitness. , 1978, Research quarterly.

[37]  S. Sternberg.  Discovering mental processing stages: The method of additive factors. , 1998 .

[38]  B. Burle,et al.  Physical exercise facilitates motor processes in simple reaction time performance: An electromyographic analysis , 2006, Neuroscience Letters.

[39]  C P Davey,et al.  Physical exertion and mental performance. , 1973, Ergonomics.

[40]  Karen Davranche,et al.  A distributional analysis of the effect of physical exercise on a choice reaction time task , 2006, Journal of sports sciences.

[41]  J Brisswalter,et al.  Effects of a Prolonged Run on Simple Reaction Time of Well Trained Runners , 2001, Perceptual and motor skills.

[42]  Jeanick Brisswalter,et al.  Effects of Acute Physical Exercise Characteristics on Cognitive Performance , 2002, Sports medicine.

[43]  T. McMorris,et al.  The effect of incremental exercise on cognitive performance. , 2000 .

[44]  J. Botwinick,et al.  Premotor and motor components of reaction time. , 1966, Journal of experimental psychology.

[45]  Jeanick Brisswalter,et al.  Effects of long duration exercise on cognitive function, blood glucose, and counterregulatory hormones in male cyclists , 2004, Neuroscience Letters.

[46]  B. Whipp,et al.  A new method for detecting anaerobic threshold by gas exchange. , 1986, Journal of applied physiology.

[47]  J. Graydon,et al.  The effect of exercise on the decision-making performance of experienced and inexperienced soccer players. , 1996, Research quarterly for exercise and sport.

[48]  B. J. Winer.  Statistical Principles in Experimental Design , 1992 .

[49]  A. Sanders.  Issues and trends in the debate on discrete vs. continuous processing of information , 1990 .

[50]  P. Tomporowski.  Effects of acute bouts of exercise on cognition. , 2003, Acta psychologica.

[51]  S. Cairns,et al.  Changes of motor drive, cortical arousal and perceived exertion following prolonged cycling to exhaustion , 2005, European Journal of Applied Physiology.