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Acute stress imparts a transient benefit to task-switching that is not modulated following a single bout of exercise

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive flexibility represents a core component of executive function that promotes the ability to efficiently alternate—or “switch”—between different tasks. Literature suggests that acute stress negatively impacts cognitive flexibility, whereas a single bout of aerobic exercise supp...

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Autores principales: Morava, Anisa, Tari, Benjamin, Ahn, Joshua, Shirzad, Mustafa, Heath, Matthew, Prapavessis, Harry
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10391836/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37533726
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1157644
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author Morava, Anisa
Tari, Benjamin
Ahn, Joshua
Shirzad, Mustafa
Heath, Matthew
Prapavessis, Harry
author_facet Morava, Anisa
Tari, Benjamin
Ahn, Joshua
Shirzad, Mustafa
Heath, Matthew
Prapavessis, Harry
author_sort Morava, Anisa
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Cognitive flexibility represents a core component of executive function that promotes the ability to efficiently alternate—or “switch”—between different tasks. Literature suggests that acute stress negatively impacts cognitive flexibility, whereas a single bout of aerobic exercise supports a postexercise improvement in cognitive flexibility. Here, we examined whether a single bout of aerobic exercise attenuates a stress-induced decrement in task-switching. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty participants (age range = 19–30) completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and were randomized into separate Exercise or Rest groups entailing 20-min sessions of heavy intensity exercise (80% of heart rate maximum via cycle ergometer) or rest, respectively. Stress induction was confirmed via state anxiety and heart rate. Task-switching was assessed prior to the TSST (i.e., pre-TSST), following the TSST (i.e., post-TSST), and following Exercise and Rest interventions (i.e., post-intervention) via pro- (i.e., saccade to veridical target location) and antisaccades (i.e., saccade mirror-symmetrical to target location) arranged in an AABB task-switching paradigm. The underlying principle of the AABB paradigm suggests that when prosaccades are preceded by antisaccades (i.e., task-switch trials), the reaction times are longer compared to their task-repeat counterparts (i.e., unidirectional prosaccade switch-cost). RESULTS: As expected, the pre-TSST assessment yielded a prosaccade switch cost. Notably, post-TSST physiological measures indicated a reliable stress response and at this assessment a null prosaccade switch-cost was observed. In turn, post-intervention assessments revealed a switch-cost independent of Exercise and Rest groups. CONCLUSION: Accordingly, the immediate effects of acute stress supported improved task-switching in young adults; however, these benefits were not modulated by a single bout of aerobic exercise.
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spelling pubmed-103918362023-08-02 Acute stress imparts a transient benefit to task-switching that is not modulated following a single bout of exercise Morava, Anisa Tari, Benjamin Ahn, Joshua Shirzad, Mustafa Heath, Matthew Prapavessis, Harry Front Psychol Psychology INTRODUCTION: Cognitive flexibility represents a core component of executive function that promotes the ability to efficiently alternate—or “switch”—between different tasks. Literature suggests that acute stress negatively impacts cognitive flexibility, whereas a single bout of aerobic exercise supports a postexercise improvement in cognitive flexibility. Here, we examined whether a single bout of aerobic exercise attenuates a stress-induced decrement in task-switching. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty participants (age range = 19–30) completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and were randomized into separate Exercise or Rest groups entailing 20-min sessions of heavy intensity exercise (80% of heart rate maximum via cycle ergometer) or rest, respectively. Stress induction was confirmed via state anxiety and heart rate. Task-switching was assessed prior to the TSST (i.e., pre-TSST), following the TSST (i.e., post-TSST), and following Exercise and Rest interventions (i.e., post-intervention) via pro- (i.e., saccade to veridical target location) and antisaccades (i.e., saccade mirror-symmetrical to target location) arranged in an AABB task-switching paradigm. The underlying principle of the AABB paradigm suggests that when prosaccades are preceded by antisaccades (i.e., task-switch trials), the reaction times are longer compared to their task-repeat counterparts (i.e., unidirectional prosaccade switch-cost). RESULTS: As expected, the pre-TSST assessment yielded a prosaccade switch cost. Notably, post-TSST physiological measures indicated a reliable stress response and at this assessment a null prosaccade switch-cost was observed. In turn, post-intervention assessments revealed a switch-cost independent of Exercise and Rest groups. CONCLUSION: Accordingly, the immediate effects of acute stress supported improved task-switching in young adults; however, these benefits were not modulated by a single bout of aerobic exercise. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-07-18 /pmc/articles/PMC10391836/ /pubmed/37533726 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1157644 Text en Copyright © 2023 Morava, Tari, Ahn, Shirzad, Heath and Prapavessis. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Morava, Anisa
Tari, Benjamin
Ahn, Joshua
Shirzad, Mustafa
Heath, Matthew
Prapavessis, Harry
Acute stress imparts a transient benefit to task-switching that is not modulated following a single bout of exercise
title Acute stress imparts a transient benefit to task-switching that is not modulated following a single bout of exercise
title_full Acute stress imparts a transient benefit to task-switching that is not modulated following a single bout of exercise
title_fullStr Acute stress imparts a transient benefit to task-switching that is not modulated following a single bout of exercise
title_full_unstemmed Acute stress imparts a transient benefit to task-switching that is not modulated following a single bout of exercise
title_short Acute stress imparts a transient benefit to task-switching that is not modulated following a single bout of exercise
title_sort acute stress imparts a transient benefit to task-switching that is not modulated following a single bout of exercise
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10391836/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37533726
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1157644
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