To Play or Not to Play? The Relationship Between Active Video Game Play and Electrophysiological Indices of Food-Related Inhibitory Control in Adolescents

Sedentary behaviors, such as computer use and sedentary video games, are barriers to physical activity, contribute to overweight and obesity among adolescents, and can adversely affect eating behaviors. Active video games may increase daily physical activity levels among adolescents and improve food-related inhibitory control. We compared the effects of acute bouts of active and sedentary video gaming on event-related potential (ERP) indices of food-related inhibitory control, energy expenditure, and ad libitum eating. In a within-subjects design, 59 adolescent participants (49% female, Mage = 13.29 ± 1.15) completed two separate counterbalanced, 60-minute long video gaming sessions separated by seven days. Immediately after, participants completed two go/no-go tasks with high- and low-calorie images and N2 and P3 ERP amplitudes were measured. Participants also completed a Stroop task and were given high- and low-calorie snacks to consume ad libitum. Results indicated that active relative to sedentary video games significantly increased energy expenditure on multiple measures (e.g., METs, heart rate, kcals burned) and participants consumed more calories after the active compared to the sedentary video game session. N2 amplitudes were larger when participants inhibited to high- compared to low-calorie foods, suggesting high-calorie foods necessitate increased recruitment of inhibitory control resources; however, there were non-significant differences for the N2 or P3 amplitudes, accuracy or response times, and Stroop performance between active versus sedentary video game sessions. Overall, sixty minutes of active video gaming increased energy expenditure and food consumption but did not significantly alter neural or behavioral measures of inhibitory control to food stimuli

The impact of exercise intensity on neurophysiological indices of food-related inhibitory control and cognitive control: A randomized crossover event-related potential (ERP) study

Food-related inhibitory control, the ability to withhold a dominant response towards highly palatable foods, influences dietary decisions. Food-related inhibitory control abilities may increase following a bout of aerobic exercise; however, the impact of exercise intensity on both food-related inhibitory control and broader cognitive control processes is currently unclear. We used a high-powered, within-subjects, crossover design to test how relative intensity of aerobic exercise influenced behavioral (response time, accuracy) and neural (N2 and P3 components of the scalp-recorded event-related potential [ERP]) measures of food-related inhibitory and cognitive control. Two hundred and ten participants completed three separate conditions separated by approximately one week in randomized order: two exercise conditions (35% VO2max or 70% VO2max) and seated rest. Directly following exercise or rest, participants completed a food-based go/no-go task and a flanker task while electroencephalogram data were recorded. Linear mixed models showed generally faster response times (RT) and improved accuracy following 70% VO2max exercise compared to rest, but not 35% VO2max; RTs and accuracy did not differ between 35% VO2max exercise and rest conditions. N2 and P3 amplitudes were larger following 70% VO2max exercise for the food-based go/no-go task compared to rest and 35% VO2max exercise. There were no differences between exercise conditions for N2 amplitude during the flanker task; however, P3 amplitude was more positive following 70% VO2max compared to rest, but not 35% VO2max exercise. Biological sex did not moderate exercise outcomes. Results suggest improved and more efficient food-related recruitment of later inhibitory control and cognitive control processes following 70% VO2max exercise