Probing Modulation of Attentional Correlates with Aerobic Exercise in Individuals with a History of Concussion

Concussions have been associated with deficits in attentional control. The current work examined whether attentional correlates could be enhanced following acute aerobic exercise in those with a history of concussion (CH).

EEG was collected as participants completed a flanker task to evoke stimulus-locked (N2, P3) and response-locked error-related (ERN, Pe) ERPs, before and after participants completed a bout of acute aerobic exercise at moderate intensity. Conflict was modulated with distance (close/far) and congruency (incongruent/congruent) of the distractors relative to the targets.

CH individuals had reduced accuracy in high-conflict conditions, with improvements following exercise. No differences were observed in attentional cognitive control across the four conditions (close/far congruent, close/far incongruent); however, reduced interference control was shown in far conditions, when compared to close conditions. When compared to non-concussed controls, increased accuracy with increased response time in individuals with a concussion history was likely attributed to the speed-accuracy trade-off. Close conditions highlighted a decreased Pe amplitude in CH individuals (as opposed to the active controls), suggesting CH individuals may present with challenges when evaluating an error with working memory.

The findings demonstrated acute exercise improved accuracy among CH individuals, and performance monitoring is impacted negatively long term following a concussion.