Does music support executive functions and affective responses during acute exercise? A systematic review and meta-analysis

TL;DR

This review finds that the effects of music on cognitive and emotional responses during exercise are inconsistent and depend on factors like exercise intensity.

Contribution

The study provides a systematic review and meta-analysis on the combined effects of music and acute exercise on executive functions and affective responses.

Findings

Meta-analyses found no significant effects of music on attention or inhibitory control during exercise.

Higher exercise intensity and older age were linked to smaller music effects, though results remain inconsistent.

Subgroup analysis showed decreasing music effects with increasing exercise intensity, but high heterogeneity limits generalization.

Abstract

Maintaining a steady running pace despite physical or mental fatigue often engages executive functions. These functions may contribute to sustaining exercise participation by regulating cognitive and affective responses to the demands of physical exercise. Research on both music and acute exercise independently shows engagement of executive functions and affective responses, with exercise intensities influencing outcomes. However, the combined effects of music and acute exercise on executive functions and affective outcomes remain underexplored.

Accordingly, this review examines how music may interact with executive functions and affective responses during acute exercise.

Ten studies met the inclusion criteria, with nine providing data for effect size calculations across 21 intervention arms. Narrative synthesis indicated context-dependent patterns between music and acute exercise combinations, particularly at low-to-moderate exercise intensities. Meta-analyses report non-significant effects of music and acute exercise on attention allocation, inhibitory control, and core affect. A meta-regression pooling 18 effect sizes from nine studies suggested that higher exercise intensities and older mean participant age were associated with smaller effects of music and explained a substantial proportion of between-study variance, although residual heterogeneity remained high and these findings should be interpreted cautiously. A descriptive subgroup analysis showed a decreasing pattern across exercise intensities (low: g = 3.99; moderate: g = 0.99; high: g = 0.28), though substantial heterogeneity persisted, and the reported effects do not appear to generalize consistently across studies.

The current synthesised evidence appears inconclusive regarding music’s influence on executive functions and affective responses during acute exercise.

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42023465958.

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