Purpose: The study aimed to explore the effects that a single bout of exercise at moderate intensity accompanied with self-selected music has on affective states and cognitive performance. In particular, to provide evidence of positive affect and arousal moderation by self-selected music after exercise; and offer behavioral and neuroelectrical information of verbal working memory performance due exercise+music combination.
Methods: Thirty-seven healthy young adults (20-35 years old) participated in two exercise treatments and a video-watching control treatment. Exercise treatments followed the American College of Sport Medicine guidelines and consisted of 5-min of warm-up, 25-min of jogging at moderate intensity (approximately 60% HR reserve) with and without music to end with 5-min of cooldown. Visual and aural versions of Sternberg test were administered after each treatment.
Results: Arousal, positive affect and feeling states were significantly enhanced after 25-min of exercise with self-selected music. Cognitive performance presented an improvement under both exercise treatment conditions but no evidence of significant superiority between modalities was observed.
Conclusions: A single bout of aerobic exercise consisting of 5-min of warm-up, 25-min of jogging with/without music at moderated intensity and 5-min of cooldown provides differential cognitive improvements compared with a session of video watching, however the self-selected music component can offer an appreciable improvement on after-exercise wellness that would convey at least a more pleasant exercise experience.
