Aerobic fitness is consistently and robustly associated with superior performance on assessments of cognitive control. One potential mechanism underlying this phenomenon is activation of the locus-coeruleus. Specifically, individuals with greater aerobic fitness may be better able to sustain engagement in a cognitively demanding task via a superior ability to meet the metabolic demands of this neural system. Accordingly, the present investigation examined 1) the relationship between aerobic fitness and phasic activation of the locus-coeruleus (indexed using pupillometry) and 2) the potential mediating influence of locus-coeruleus activity on the relationship between aerobic fitness and cognitive task performance. Participants performed an inhibition task while their pupillary responses were measured using an infrared eye tracker. A VO_2max test was then performed to determine individuals' aerobic fitness levels. Consistent with previous research, higher levels of aerobic fitness were related to shorter reaction time. However, phasic activity of the locus-coeruleus did not mediate this relationship – nor did it relate to aerobic fitness level. These results suggest that aerobic fitness does not relate to differences in locus-coeruleus activity in the context of cognitive control in college-aged adults.

有氧健身与认知控制评估的卓越表现始终密切相关。这种现象背后的一个潜在机制是蓝斑基因座的激活。具体而言，具有更高有氧健身能力的个体可能能够通过满足该神经系统代谢需求的卓越能力来更好地维持对认知要求高的任务的参与。因此，本调查研究了 1) 有氧健康与蓝斑基因阶段性激活之间的关系（使用瞳孔测量法索引）和 2）蓝斑基因活动对有氧健康与认知任务表现之间关系的潜在中介影响。参与者执行抑制任务，同时使用红外眼动仪测量他们的瞳孔反应。VO然后进行_2max测试以确定个人的有氧健康水平。与之前的研究一致，更高水平的有氧运动与更短的反应时间有关。然而，蓝斑基因座的阶段性活动并没有调节这种关系——也与有氧健康水平无关。这些结果表明，有氧健康与大学生认知控制背景下蓝斑活动的差异无关。