Much attention has been focused on physical exercise benefits to mental health such as mood and cognitive function. Our recent studies have consistently shown that a single bout of exercise elicits increased task-related brain activation mainly in the dorsolateral part of the prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which results in improved executive performance. As the DLPFC is associated with the modulation of mood as well as executive function, it is tempting to hypothesize that exercising while in a positive mood would facilitate the beneficial effects of exercise on executive function via DLPFC activation. Thus, we conceived an experiment that used music to elicit a positive mood during exercise. Thirty-three young adults performed ten minutes of moderate-intensity (50% VO_2peak) pedaling exercise with two experimental conditions: listening to music and listening to beeps at a steady tempo. Mood and executive function were respectively assessed using the Two-Dimensional Mood Scale and a color-word-matching Stroop task before and after the exercise sessions. Prefrontal activation during the Stroop task was monitored using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Exercise with music elicited greater enhancement of a positive mood (vitality) than did exercise with beeps. Contrary to our hypothesis, there were no significant differences between conditions in improvement in Stroop task performance and task-related cortical activation in the left-DLPFC. The correlation analyses, however, revealed significant correlations among increased vitality, shortened Stroop interference time and increased activation in the left-DLPFC. These results support the hypothesis that positive mood while exercising influences the benefit of exercise on prefrontal activation and executive performance.

体育锻炼对精神健康的益处（如情绪和认知功能）已经引起了很多关注。我们最近的研究一致表明，单次运动可以增加与任务相关的大脑激活，主要是在前额叶皮层（DLPFC）的背外侧部分，从而提高执行性能。由于DLPFC与情绪以及执行功能的调节有关，因此很容易假设，在积极情绪下进行锻炼会通过DLPFC激活促进锻炼对执行功能的有益影响。因此，我们构思了一个实验，该实验使用音乐在锻炼过程中激发积极情绪。33个年轻人进行了10分钟的中等强度_训练（50％VO _2peak）在两个实验条件下进行踏板运动：以稳定的速度听音乐和听蜂鸣声。在锻炼之前和之后，分别使用二维情绪量表和颜色词匹配的Stroop任务评估情绪和执行功能。使用功能性近红外光谱仪监测Stroop任务期间的前额叶激活。用音乐锻炼比用哔声锻炼能更好地增强积极情绪（活力）。与我们的假设相反，Stroop任务表现的改善条件与左DLPFC中与任务相关的皮质激活的条件之间没有显着差异。然而，相关性分析显示，活力增加，Stroop干扰时间缩短和左DLPFC激活增加之间存在显着相关性。