ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Eating Behavior
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1634569
Acute Effects of Short-Term High-Intensity Interval Exercise and Moderate-Intensity Aerobic Exercise on Food-Related Inhibitory Control in Obese Adults: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial Using ERP Measures
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
- 2School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
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Food-specific inhibitory control plays a critical role in maintaining a healthy body weight. However, limited research has explored how different exercise modalities influence this form of control in adults with obesity, particularly re-garding the underlying neural mechanisms. This study aimed to examine the acute effects of short-term high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) and moderate-intensity aerobic exer-cise (MIAE) on food-related inhibitory function in obese adults, and to assess whether sex differences modulate the response to exercise interventions. The findings aim to provide evidencebased guidance for the personalized design of exercise prescriptions targeting dietary behavior regulation in this population. Methods: A total of 32 obese adults partic-ipated in a within-subjects randomized crossover design. Each individual completed three separate sessions:(1) 15 minutes of HIIE on a power-adjusted cycle ergometer,(2) 30 minutes of MIAE, and(3) a 30-minute resting control condition.After each session, partic-ipants performed a food-related Go/NoGo task during which behavioral responses (reac-tion time and accuracy) and event-related potential (ERP) components (N2 and P3 ampli-tudes) were recorded.. Results: Across all image types, both male and female participants demonstrated shorter reaction times following HIIE and MIAE compared to the control condition. In males, reaction times were tended to be shorter under HIIE than under MIAE, although no significant differences in accuracy were observed across conditions. Addi-tionally, female participants showed enhanced N2 amplitudes in NoGo trials involving low-calorie food images under the HIIE condition, and no significant difference between NoGo and Go P3 amplitudes when responding to high-calorie food stimuli. Conclusions: 1)HIIE may enhance behavioral response speed in obese males through non-inhibitory optimization of the prefrontal-striatal pathway, reflecting the neural efficiency hypothesis associated with short-te rm exercise;2)MIAE may improve conflict monitoring in obese
Keywords: Acute Exercise, inhibitory function, Gender difference, ERP, HIIE
Received: 24 May 2025; Accepted: 27 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Lu, Chen, Xiao and Ren. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jie Ren, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
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