Altering Affective Responses and Emotional Reactivity Through Acute Bouts of Aerobic Exercise With and Without Mindfulness.
Salim Onbasi, Wojciech Kielbus, C J Brush, Steve Amireault, Sarah Ullrich-French, Yu-Kai Chang, Shih-Chun Kao
Psychophysiology September 2026 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.70405 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Within-subject crossover Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 30 |
| Population | Adults aged 18-25 (15 male) |
| Intervention | seated rest |
| Duration | 30 min session |
| Measures | Late positive potential (LPP) of event-related potential (ERP), self-reported affect |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Lpp Affect Emotional regulation Event‐related potential Physical activity |
| Key points | Both mindful and non-mindful aerobic exercise increased positive affect relative to rest, while LPP amplitudes did not differ between conditions. Negative emotional reactivity exceeded positive reactivity after non-mindful exercise and rest but not after mindful exercise, suggesting that adding mindfulness to aerobic exercise may accelerate reduction of reactivity to negative emotional stimuli. |
Abstract
Although the beneficial effects of acute aerobic exercise (AE) and mindfulness (MF) on emotional well-being are well-documented, whether these two intervention modalities can be combined to maximize these benefits remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the combined effect of AE and MF on affective responses and emotional reactivity. Using a within-subject crossover design, self-reported affect was assessed from 30 adults (15 male) aged 18-25 before and after a 30 min session of mindful AE (MF-AE), non-mindful AE (NM-AE), and seated rest on three separate days in counterbalanced order. Following each intervention, emotional reactivity was measured by the late positive potential (LPP) of event-related potential (ERP) during a computerized picture-viewing task consisting of neutral and pleasant/unpleasant emotional content. Analysis indicated no between-condition differences in affect at the pretest, while there was increased positive affect for MF-AE and NM-AE conditions compared with rest at posttest. Although LPP amplitudes did not differ between conditions, greater negative (LPPunpleasant-LPPneutral) compared to positive (LPPpleasant-LPPneutral) emotional reactivity was observed with small-to-moderate and moderate-to-larger effect sizes following the NM-AE and rest conditions, respectively. However, this reactivity-related difference was absent following the MF-AE condition. Subsequent analyses indicated reduced dominance of negative reactivity during both the early (400-1200 ms) and later (1200-2000 ms) post-stimulus windows following the MF-AE condition, while this mitigation effect emerged only during the later window following the NM-AE condition. In addition to the AE-induced acute benefits to self-reported affective outcomes, performing MF during AE may accelerate the elimination of the tendency in reacting to negative emotion-eliciting stimuli.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Healthy employees in a work environment | 2003 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2000 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 145 |
| Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Working adults | 2008 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 139 |
| Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Undergraduate Chinese students | 2007 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 40 |
| Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2004 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 73 |
Citations in the library
Cites 9
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Assessment February 29, 2008
- The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin May 14, 2012
- Minding one’s emotions: Mindfulness training alters the neural expression of sadness. Emotion February 1, 2010
- Brief mindfulness training for negative affectivity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology June 25, 2018
and 4 more in the library