Effects of Acute High-Intensity Interval Training on Information Processing Speed.

Area of Science:

• Exercise Physiology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Human Performance

Background:

• Reaction time (RT) is crucial for daily activities and performance.
• Understanding how acute exercise impacts RT components (central vs. peripheral processing) is important.
• High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a time-efficient exercise modality with potential cognitive benefits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of acute aerobic-only (HIIT-A) and aerobic/resistance (HIIT-AR) HIIT on reaction time (RT), premotor time (central processing), and motor time (peripheral processing).
• To examine these effects under both regular and irregular foreperiod conditions.
• To determine if acute exercise enhances information processing speed.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-eight young adults (18-40 years) completed two sessions.
• Session 1 involved simple RT tasks with regular and irregular foreperiods.
• Participants were randomized to HIIT-A, HIIT-AR, or a resting control group (CG) for a 20-minute exercise protocol.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in RT were found for regular foreperiod conditions across groups.
• For irregular foreperiod conditions, both HIIT-A and HIIT-AR groups showed significantly faster mean RTs compared to the CG.
• Both exercise groups also exhibited significantly faster mean premotor times (central processing) than the CG.

Conclusions:

• Acute exercise, specifically HIIT, can enhance information processing speed, particularly for tasks requiring central cognitive operations.
• The benefits of acute exercise on RT are more pronounced under conditions of temporal uncertainty (irregular foreperiods).
• These findings suggest that HIIT may be a viable strategy to acutely improve cognitive functions dependent on central processing.