Chronic effects of exercise implemented during school-break time on neurophysiological indices of inhibitory control in adolescents

The present study investigated the effects of an exercise intervention, which was implemented during school-break time, on the P300 component of event-related potentials and inhibitory control. Adolescents aged 12-15 years were allocated to an exercise and control group. The exercise group performed 20 min of aerobic and coordinative exercise per school day over a period of 8 weeks. Before and after the intervention, stimulus-locked event-related potentials were recorded during a Stroop task using electroencephalography. Cluster-based permutation testing revealed a greater increase of the P300 amplitude in the exercise compared to the control group, most pronounced for the parieto-occipital region. Additionally, increases in P300 amplitude were associated with decreases in incompatible reaction time on the Stroop task. An exercise program implemented during school-break time enhances adolescents' inhibitory control. This benefit seems to be due to an improved allocation of attentional resources towards the cognitive task.