Effects of an acute bout of cycling on different domains of cognitive function

The literature suggesting acute exercise benefits cognitive function has been largely confined to single cognitive domains and measures of reliant on measures of central tendencies. Furthermore, studies suggest cognitive intra-individual variability (IIV) to reflect cognitive efficiency and provide unique insights into cognitive function, but there is limited knowledge on the effects of acute exercise on IIV. To this end, this study examined the effects of acute exercise on three different cognitive domains, executive function, implicit learning, and hippocampal-dependent memory function using behavioral performance and event-related potentials (ERPs). Furthermore, this study also sought to explore the effects of an acute bout of exercise on IIV using the RIDE algorithm to separate signals into individuals components based on latency variability. Healthy adult participants (N = 20; 26.3 ± 4.8 years) completed a randomized cross-over trial with seated rest or 30 min of high intensity cycling. Before and after each condition, participants completed a cognitive battery consisting of the Eriksen Flanker task, implicit statistical learning task, and a spatial reconstruction task. While exercise did not affect Flanker or spatial reconstruction performance, there were exercise related decreases in accuracy (F = 5.47; P = 0.040), slowed reaction time (F = 5.18; P = 0.036), and decreased late parietal positivity (F = 4.26; P = 0.046). However, upon adjusting for performance and ERP variability, there were exercise related decreases in Flanker reaction time (F = 24.00; P < 0.001), and reduced N2 amplitudes (F = 13.03; P = 0.002), and slower P3 latencies (F = 3.57; P = 0.065) for incongruent trials. These findings suggest that acute exercise may impact cognitive IIV as an adaptation to maintain function following exercise.