Frequent physical exercise is associated with better ability to regulate negative emotions in adult women: The electrophysiological evidence

Abstract The study aimed to investigate the relationship between the frequency of physical exercise and the ability to control negative emotions in adult women. On the basis of the pre-screening, 26 frequently active and 26 infrequently active young adult women (mean age = 22.9, and 23, respectively) were invited to participate in the study. We assessed their ability to control negative emotions using behavioral and electrophysiological measures during an emotion regulation task. To control negative emotions, participants were trained in reappraisal, a cognitive strategy which involves reinterpretation of emotional stimuli (here negative emotional pictures). Although no significant effects were observed in behavioral measures, the late positive potential (LPP, an electrophysiological marker of emotional response) showed that more frequently active group displayed better efficacy of negative emotion regulation (i.e., greater difference in response to reinterpreted vs passively watched negative pictures). This effect was further confirmed by a positive relationship between the frequency of physical exercise and the LPP index of reappraisal efficacy: the more frequently active the participants were, the larger the reappraisal efficacy they demonstrated. Overall, the study suggests that frequent physical exercise may lead to better efficacy of controlling negative emotions in women.