Degree Year

2018

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology

Advisor(s)

Albert L. Porterfield

Committee Member(s)

Paul H. Thibodeau
Taylor Allen

Keywords

ADHD, ERN, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Adults, Exercise, Error related negativity, Pe, Flanker task, Go no-go task

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of 30 minutes of stationary biking on ADHD performance on a combined flanker/go/no-go task. We had 22 people with ADHD participate and 27 controls. We did not find any effect of exercise on correct response time, error rates, or error-related positivity (Pe) amplitude. We also did not find a decrease amplitude in baseline error-related negativity (ERN) or Pe of the ADHD group. We did find an a marginal increase in the amplitude of ERN in both groups after exercise (t(19) = 1.72, p = 0.10, Cohen’s d = 0.37). We also found an increase in ADHD group’s positive mood only after exercise (t(20) = 4.15, p < 0.05, Cohen’s d = 0.98). Our study was limited by a participant attrition issue which caused as to change the analysis to only using the event related potential data from each participant’s first treatment. Despite these limitations, this study supports the need for further research investigating the potential of exercise as a supplement treatment for adult ADHD.

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