The Effects of Exercise on Emotion Regulation and Cognitive Control in PTSD

The goal of this study is to investigate the effects of a single bout of aerobic exercise on neurophysiological indices of emotion regulation and cognitive control in individuals with clinically significant PTSD symptoms. In this proposed study, 70 adult females with clinically significant PTSD symptoms will be randomized into two groups: a 20-minute moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic exercise group, or a 20-minute static stretching control group. Prior to and following the exercise/stretching session, participants will complete a letter flanker task and an emotion regulation picture viewing task while their electrical brain activity is continuously recorded via electroencephalogram (EEG). Utilizing a multimodal assessment approach, cognitive control will be measured using behavioral (i.e., accuracy, reaction time) and neurophysiology (i.e., error-related negativity; ERN). Emotion regulation will be measured using self-reported and neurophysiological indices of emotional reactivity (i.e., late positive potential; LPP).

Inclusion Criteria:Female Adults who are currently experiencing clinically significant PTSD symptoms. Participants will be screened via Qualtrics using the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for the DSM-5 (PCL-5; Weathers et al., 2013). The PCL-5 is a 20-item self-administered questionnaire designed to screen for PTSD. The PCL-5 asks about the frequency of PTSD symptoms experienced in the past month using a 5-point Likert scale. Participants with a total score > 30 on the PCL-5 will be eligible to participate.Exclusion Criteria:Using the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q; Adams, 1999), participants will be excluded if they endorse any history of cardiovascular (e.g., Coronary Artery Disease, Heart Failure, High Blood Pressure) or metabolic disease (e.g., Diabetes), or any orthopedic limitations (e.g., Osteoporosis) that may interfere with participating in aerobic exercise.Additionally, participants must not have a history of head trauma resulting in loss of consciousness for more than 5 min, epilepsy, or hearing, visual, or other physical or mental impairments that could interfere with the collection of quality neurocognitive data.