Effects Of High-intensity Interval Training On Cognitive Control In Methamphetamine Abstainers

Objective: Cognitive control is one of the important functions of the prefrontal cortex(PFC),which enables people to avoid the interference of irrelevant information in the process of performing tasks,choose the information related to the task,and then achieve the goal.For drug addicts in the withdrawal,the damage of PFC by psychoactive substances leads to the decline of cognitive control and other functions,making it impossible for individuals to overcome the drug attraction and relapse.Therefore,improving the cognitive control function of methamphetamine abusers is of great significance for the recovery of the addicts’ cognitive function and the reduction of relapse.High-intensity interval training(HIIT)is a form of physical exercise characterized by short,indirect bursts of intense exercise interlaced with rest or lowintensity exercise.Studies in non-drug addicts have shown that HIIT not only helps with physical fitness but also improves mood and cognitive function.However,there are few studies on the application of HIIT to addicts,and the improvement effect on cognitive function,especially cognitive control,is unclear.Methamphetamine is the main illegal addictive substance in our country.So,this study focused on methamphetamine abstainers,to examine the effects of 12-week HIIT intervention on cognitive control and drug craving in methamphetamine abstainers by functional nearinfrared spectroscopy(fNIRS)from behavioral and neural activity levels.Methods: Study recruited 40 men methamphetamine abstainers,were randomly assigned to the HIIT group(average age 31.05 ± 5.26 years,average abstain duration 11.45 ± 3.19 months,and the average drug use year 7.80 ± 5.42 years)and control group(average age 31.55 ± 4.06,the average abstain duration 10.85 ± 2.23 months,and the average drug use year 8.60 ± 4.04 years).The HIIT group received high-intensity interval training three times a week for 12 weeks,while the control group maintained a routine.Subjective craving test,color-word Stroop task,and emotional face-word Stroop task were performed before and after the intervention,and behavioral and fNIRS data under cognitive and emotional conflict tasks were collected simultaneously.Results: Behavioral results showed that the conflict effect of the HIIT group under cognitive and emotional conflict tasks decreased,but did not reach a significant level(ps > 0.206).On the level of neural activity,both the color-word Stroop task and the emotional face-word Stroop task showed a significant main effect of time(ps < 0.022),that is,the activation degree of the PFC increased after the intervention.However,in various secondary areas of the PFC,the HIIT group and the control group showed different activation patterns: in the color-word Stroop task,both groups increased the activation degree of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(dlPFC),frontopolar cortex(FPC),and orbitofrontal cortex(OFC).In the emotional face-word Stroop task,only high-intensity interval training increased activation in the dlPFC,ventrolateral prefrontal cortex(vlPFC),FPC,and OFC.Also,the subjective craving test showed that the post-test craving scores of the HIIT group were lower than that of the pre-test(p = 0.055),while there was no significant difference in the control group(p = 0.279).The result suggests that HIIT is effective in reducing drug cravings among methamphetamine abstainers.Conclusions: HIIT can improve the cognitive control function of the PFC of methamphetamine abstainers when coping with conflict information,which has potential value as an intervention in drug rehabilitation.