The Emotional and Cognitive Effects of Synchronizing to Music During Acute Exercise: An fNIRS Study

Synchronizing movements to music enhances exercise performance and enjoyment, yet its short-term effects on attention and cognition remain underexplored. This study examined the influence of synchronous music, asynchronous music, and a no-music control condition on emotional responses, perceived exertion, attentional focus, and executive function during moderate-intensity cycling. Twenty-seven healthy young adults completed three cycling sessions under different conditions in a within-subjects design. Measures included perceived valence, perceived activation, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), state attention, remembered pleasure, intrinsic motivation, Flanker Squared Task (FST) performance, and changes in cerebral oxygenation in the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Compared to the asynchronous and control conditions, synchronizing to music during exercise significantly enhanced perceived valence, perceived activation, intrinsic motivation, and external focus while reducing RPE. When the central arrow in the target stimulus conflicted with the surrounding flanker arrows in the FST (i.e., stimulus incongruent trials), synchronization tended to improve performance, an effect fully mediated by reductions in RPE. External focus during exercise was positively associated with FST performance, partially mediated by reduced cerebral oxygenation in the PFC. The findings suggest that synchronizing movements to music enhances the psychological experience of exercise and may support executive function by increasing external focus and reducing RPE.