title: Greater impact of acute high-intensity interval exercise on post-exercise executive function compared to moderate-intensity continuous exercise.
abstract: Aerobic moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MCE) can improve executive function (EF) acutely, potentially through the activation of both physiological and psychological factors. Recently, high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) has been reported to be more beneficial for physical adaptation than MCE. Factors for EF improvement can potentially be more enhanced by HIIE than by MCE; but the effects of HIIE on EF remain unknown. Therefore, we aimed to examine to what extent HIIE impacts post-exercise EF immediately after exercise and during post-exercise recovery, compared with traditional MCE. Twelve healthy male subjects performed cycle ergometer exercise based on either HIIE or MCE protocols in a randomized and counterbalanced order. The HIIE protocol consisted of four 4-min bouts at 90% of peak VO2 with 3-min active recovery at 60% of peak VO2. A volume-matched MCE protocol was applied at 60% of peak VO2. To evaluate EF, a color-words Stroop task was performed pre- and post-exercise. Improvement in EF immediately after exercise was the same for the HIIE and MCE protocols. However, the improvement of EF by HIIE was sustained during 30 min of post-exercise recovery, during which MCE returned to the pre-exercise level. The EF response in the post-exercise recovery was associated with changes in physiological and psychological responses. The present findings showed that HIIE and MCE were capable of improving EF. Moreover, HIIE could prolong improvement in EF during post-exercise recovery. For the first time, we suggest that HIIE may be more effective strategy than MCE for improving EF.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hayato
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsukamoto
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga, Japan. Electronic address: t-suga@fc.ritsumei.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suga
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga, Japan.
authors.forename: Saki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takenaka
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga, Japan.
authors.forename: Daichi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga, Japan; School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hamaoka
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Isaka
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
mesh_terms: D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D062186:Arterial Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D005222:Mental Fatigue / Q000503:physiopathology; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology; D011897:Random Allocation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D057190:Stroop Test; D013995:Time; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D019344:Lactic Acid
keywords: Aerobic exercise; Brain health; Lactate; Neural activation; Psychological arousal