Rocking the cerebral blood flow: the influence of music listening and aerobic exercise on cortical hemodynamics and post-intervention executive function
Abstract
A single bout of aerobic exercise (AE) benefits executive function (EF) and is linked to an increase in cerebral blood flow (CBF). Notably, music listening (ML) also increases CBF and may benefit EF. Accordingly, my thesis examined whether ML-, AE- and combined ML+AE- induced CBF changes impact the magnitude of a postexercise EF benefit. Participants completed four 10-min conditions: (1) non-exercise/music control, (2) ML of rock music, (3) AE and (4) combined ML+AE. Pre- and post-intervention EF was evaluated via the antisaccade task and transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) estimated changes in CBF. ML, AE, and ML+AE conditions increased CBF; however, only the latter two conditions produced an EF benefit, and CBF changes did not relate to changes in EF. Accordingly, although ML increased CBF, it did not benefit EF and a concurrent ML+AE condition did not produce an additive EF benefit compared to AE alone.