The effect of acute aerobic exercise on inhibitory control in young adults with trait anxiety: an ERP study

Background Regular physical activity is known to benefit emotion and cognition, and acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise has been shown to improve executive function, particularly inhibitory control, in healthy populations. However, whether these effects generalize across individuals with different levels of trait anxiety remains unclear. The present study investigated the effects of acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on state anxiety and inhibitory control in young adults with low and high trait anxiety using the Stroop task, with a particular focus on the temporal neural processes associated with Stroop performance. Methods Based on trait anxiety scores, participants were assigned to either the low trait anxiety (LTA, n = 21) or high trait anxiety (HTA, n = 21) group. All participants completed both a 30-min moderate-intensity aerobic exercise session and a resting control session. Following each session, participants completed a state-anxiety assessment and performed a color-word Stroop task while stimulus-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Results Acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise reduced state anxiety in the HTA group but not in the LTA group. Exercise also shortened response times and reduced error rates across both congruent and incongruent Stroop conditions in both groups. At the neural level, acute aerobic exercise was associated with less negative N400 amplitudes and larger sustained positive potential (SP) amplitudes during the Stroop task in both groups. Conclusion A single bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise selectively reduced state anxiety in individuals with HTA and broadly improved Stroop performance across both trait anxiety groups. These behavioral changes were accompanied by exercise-related modulation of N400 and SP amplitudes, suggesting alterations in neural processes associated with conflict-related cognitive control.