Purpose

Prolonged periods of intense cognitive activity lead to a state of mental exhaustion. While widespread strategies to recover from mental exhaustion (i.e., watching TV) are non-effective, aerobic exercise seems to be a promising approach. This can be explained by the acute and chronic aerobic exercise-induced benefits on the central nervous system.

Methods

This study investigated the potential of a single bout of moderate aerobic exercise (65–75% of each participants’ individual V˙O2peak) to recover from experimentally induced mental exhaustion. A randomized controlled trial on healthy adults (N = 99) was conducted. They performed 60 min of a cognitively demanding test battery, in order to induce mental exhaustion. Subsequently, they were randomized to one of three treatments: 30 min of moderate aerobic exercise on a cycle ergometer, 30 min of a simple lower body stretching routine (= active control treatment) or watching a popular sitcom (= passive control treatment). Cognitive flexibility performance, mood, tiredness, restlessness, self-perceived cognitive capacity, and motivation were assessed before and after treatment.

Results

The empirical results showed that moderate aerobic exercise led to a better recovery for cognitive flexibility (mean difference divided by pooled standard deviation, Cohen's d= 0.737), mood (d= 0.405), tiredness (d= 0.480), self-perceived cognitive capacity (d= 0.214), and motivation (d= 0.524) compared to active control treatment. Moderate aerobic exercise was also more effective than passive control treatment (d= 0.102 - 0.286) with the exemption of tiredness (d= 0.015) and restlessness (d = -0.473).

Conclusion

In conclusion, this study suggests that a single bout of acute aerobic exercise supports regeneration of cognitive flexibility performance and of subjective well-being. This holds true not just compared to artificial active control treatment but also compared to widespread leisure time activity, namely watching TV.

中文翻译：

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从精神疲惫中恢复的急性有氧运动——一项随机对照试验

目的

长时间的高强度认知活动会导致精神疲惫。虽然从精神疲惫中恢复的广泛策略（即看电视）是无效的，但有氧运动似乎是一种很有前途的方法。这可以通过急性和慢性有氧运动对中枢神经系统的益处来解释。

方法

本研究调查了单次中等强度的有氧运动（每个参与者个体 V·O2peak 的 65-75%）从实验引起的精神疲惫中恢复的潜力。对健康成人 ( N  = 99) 进行了随机对照试验。他们进行了 60 分钟的认知要求测试电池，以诱导精神疲惫。随后，他们被随机分配到三种治疗中的一种：在自行车测力计上进行 30 分钟的适度有氧运动，30 分钟的简单下肢伸展运动（= 主动控制治疗）或观看流行的情景喜剧（= 被动控制治疗）。在治疗前后评估认知灵活性表现、情绪、疲倦、烦躁、自我认知能力和动机。

结果

实证结果表明，适度的有氧运动对认知灵活性（平均差除以合并标准差，Cohen's d = 0.737）、情绪（d = 0.405）、疲倦（d = 0.480）、自我认知认知能力有更好的恢复( d = 0.214) 和动机 ( d = 0.524) 与主动对照治疗相比。适度的有氧运动也比被动控制治疗更有效（d = 0.102 - 0.286），除了疲倦（d = 0.015）和烦躁（d  = -0.473）。

结论

总之，这项研究表明，一次急性有氧运动支持认知灵活性表现和主观幸福感的再生。这不仅与人工主动控制治疗相比，而且与广泛的休闲活动（即看电视）相比也是如此。