Effects of Chronic Exercise on Attentional Bias Among Individuals With Methamphetamine Use Disorder

Abstract Background Individuals with substance use disorder show attentional bias toward drug-related cues, which may be associated with attentional control deficits. Although exercise improves attention in healthy people, whether individuals with substance use disorder also benefit is unknown. We explored the effects of chronic exercise on behavioral and neural correlates of attentional bias in men with methamphetamine use disorder. Methods Sixty-one such men were randomized to high- or moderate-intensity exercise or to a control group with little exercise for 12 weeks. The dot-probe task assessed attentional bias before and after exercise intervention, with event-related potentials recorded during the task to determine underlying neural mechanisms. Results Attentional bias scores and event-related potential amplitudes significantly decreased after high- or moderate-intensity chronic exercise, but not in controls. Conclusions Chronic exercise reduces attentional bias in individuals with methamphetamine use disorder by enhancing early identification of drug-related stimuli and diverting attention to reduce conflict processing.