Effects of acute physical activity on interference control in children with and without ADHD: a crossover ERP study
Adrià Muntaner-Mas1,2, Antònia Siquier3,4, Olalla García Taibo5,6
1GICAFE Physical Activity and Exercise Sciences Research Group, Faculty of Education, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain. adria.muntaner@uib.es.
Abstract:
Physical activity (PA) has been associated with improvements in inhibitory control in children, including those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, the relative contribution of different PA types, particularly those differing in cognitive engagement, remains unclear. This study examined behavioural and electrophysiological indicators of interference control in children with and without ADHD following three conditions: PA with alternating cognitive engagement, PA without cognitive engagement, and a cognitively engaging control condition. Forty-three children, 20 with ADHD and 23 without ADHD, completed all sessions in a randomized crossover design. Interference control was assessed using a Flanker task while electroencephalography was recorded. Reaction time, accuracy, and interference effects were analysed at baseline and after each condition, with post-condition sessions separated by one week. N2 and P3 amplitudes were examined as electrophysiological indices of conflict monitoring and attentional allocation, respectively. The interference effect was reduced after the cognitively engaging control condition and PA without cognitive engagement relative to baseline, although no condition produced overall changes in reaction time or accuracy. EEG analyses showed larger N2 amplitudes after PA without cognitive engagement and reduced P3 amplitudes after the cognitively engaging control condition and PA without cognitive engagement compared with baseline. Overall, PA without cognitive engagement and the cognitively engaging control condition elicited acute modulations of behavioural and neural markers of interference control, irrespective of ADHD status. These findings suggest that brief PA bouts may modulate ERP indices related to executive-function processes in children, although the functional significance of reduced P3 amplitude remains uncertain when behavioural effects are limited.
