Probing Modulation of Attentional Correlates with Aerobic Exercise in Individuals with a History of Concussion

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Concussions have been associated with deficits in attentional control. The current work examined whether attentional correlates could be enhanced following acute aerobic exercise in those with a history of concussion (CH). METHODS: EEG was collected as participants completed a flanker task to evoke stimulus-locked (N2, P3) and response-locked error-related (ERN, Pe) ERPs, before and after participants completed a bout of acute aerobic exercise at moderate intensity. Conflict was modulated with distance (close/far) and congruency (incongruent/congruent) of the distractors relative to the targets. RESULTS: CH individuals had reduced accuracy in high-conflict conditions, with improvements following exercise. No differences were observed in attentional cognitive control across the four conditions (close/far congruent, close/far incongruent); however, reduced interference control was shown in far conditions, when compared to close conditions. When compared to non-concussed controls, increased accuracy with increased response time in individuals with a concussion history was likely attributed to the speed-accuracy trade-off. Close conditions highlighted a decreased Pe amplitude in CH individuals (as opposed to the active controls), suggesting CH individuals may present with challenges when evaluating an error with working memory. CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrated acute exercise improved accuracy among CH individuals, and performance monitoring is impacted negatively long term following a concussion.