Morava Anisa, Shirzad Ali, Van Riesen James, Shirzad Mustafa, Elshawish Nader, Alushaj Erind, Prapavessis Harry
School of Kinesiology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Department of Neuroscience, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 31;20(1):e0318222. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0318222. eCollection 2025.
Post-secondary students experience acute stressors daily. Acute stress has been associated with poor cognitive and learning outcomes. Prior work has demonstrated a single bout of exercise can attenuate acute stress responses. The present study examined the effects of a single 30-minute bout of high intensity aerobic exercise on multidimensional stress reactivity and learning-related outcomes. Forty participants were randomized to either engaging in an exercise bout or seated rest. Participants were then exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test followed by a 20-minute video lecture. The video lecture contained embedded mind wandering probes. Acute exercise did not attenuate stress responses, however promoted greater on-task behaviour (i.e., less mind wandering) and improved lecture comprehension scores. Notably, state anxiety was positively associated with mind wandering and mind wandering was negatively associated with lecture comprehension. Collectively, examining the role of acute interventions that reduce state anxiety may promote favourable learning outcomes in young adults.
高等院校学生每天都会经历急性应激源。急性应激与不良的认知和学习结果有关。先前的研究表明，单次运动可以减轻急性应激反应。本研究考察了单次30分钟的高强度有氧运动对多维应激反应性和学习相关结果的影响。40名参与者被随机分为进行运动或坐着休息两组。然后让参与者接受特里尔社会应激测试，随后观看一段20分钟的视频讲座。视频讲座中嵌入了注意力分散探测。急性运动并没有减轻应激反应，但促进了更多的专注行为（即更少的注意力分散），并提高了讲座理解分数。值得注意的是，状态焦虑与注意力分散呈正相关，而注意力分散与讲座理解呈负相关。总体而言，研究减轻状态焦虑的急性干预措施的作用可能会促进年轻人取得良好的学习成果。
