There is increasing evidence that acute aerobic exercise is associated with improved cognitive function. However, neural correlates of its cognitive plasticity remain largely unknown. The present study examined the effect of a session of acute aerobic exercise on working memory task-evoked brain activity as well as task performance. A within-subjects design with a counterbalanced order was employed. Fifteen young female participants (M = 19.56, SD = 0.81) were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a working memory task, the N-back task, both following an acute exercise session with 20 minutes of moderate intensity and a control rest session. Although an acute session of exercise did not improve behavioral performance, we observed that it had a significant impact on brain activity during the 2-back condition of the N-back task. Specifically, acute exercise induced increased brain activation in the right middle prefrontal gyrus, the right lingual gyrus, and the left fusiform gyrus as well as deactivations in the anterior cingulate cortexes, the left inferior frontal gyrus, and the right paracentral lobule. Despite the lack of an effect on behavioral measures, significant changes after acute exercise with activation of the prefrontal and occipital cortexes and deactivation of the anterior cingulate cortexes and left frontal hemisphere reflect the improvement of executive control processes, indicating that acute exercise could benefit working memory at a macro-neural level. In addition to its effects on reversing recent obesity and disease trends, our results provide substantial evidence highlighting the importance of promoting physical activity across the lifespan to prevent or reverse cognitive and neural decline.

1) Background: The common factors which potentially contribute to the development of eating disorders and exercise dependence during early adulthood are still relatively unclear. The present study aimed to examine the role of BMI, body image inflexibility, and generalized anxiety in these two behavioral problems in a sample of college students. 2) Methods: In total, 878 habitual exercisers (58.1% male with BMI = 22.12 ± 2.39; 41.9% female with BMI = 20.55 ± 2.21) with age of 20.09 ± 1.76 years participated in this study. The main outcomes of interest are exercise dependence symptoms, eating disorders symptoms, body image inflexibility, and symptoms of generalized anxiety (as measured by Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised, Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire-Short Form, Body Image Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, respectively). Pearson correlation, path analysis, and model fit information were tested. 3) Results: After controlling for age, gender, and field of study, lower BMI was linked to more exercise dependence symptoms but this association was not statistically significant, while a greater BMI was significantly associated with a higher risk of developing eating disorders (β = −0.08, p