Objectives
To examine the effect of acute exercise on multiple ERP components in young adults and to determine whether acute moderate-intensity exercise exerts a general or selective effect on a cognitive task requiring basic information processing and the inhibitory aspect of executive function.

Design
A randomized controlled trial design.

Methods
Forty young adults were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups: (a) an acute bout of moderate-intensity exercise (n = 20) or (b) a non-exercise control (n = 20). The participants completed congruent and incongruent trials of a flanker task at baseline and after the treatments (exercise or control) while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded.

Results
Acute moderate-intensity exercise facilitated response times for both congruent and incongruent flanker conditions. Larger P2, N2c, and P3 amplitudes were observed under both conditions following the exercise. No effects on accuracy or latency were found.

Conclusion
These findings suggest that acute moderate-intensity exercise generally influences basic information processing and the inhibitory aspect of executive function in healthy young adults. The ERP data imply that general facilitation occurs in the perceptual, stimulus classification and evaluation processes.