Abstract
PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the acute effect of exercise, with and without cooperative activities, on emotion recognition in preadolescent children and its association with parasympathetic activity as well as prosocial behavior and inclusive thinking. METHODS: Using an experimental design, 100 participants ( N = 44 male; age = 11.6 ± 0.6 y) were randomly assigned to a group performing 20-min exercise demanding cooperation (EX+CO), aerobic exercise without cooperation (EX), or a control group (CON) watching a video in a 1:1:1 ratio. Before and after the exercise bout or control condition, a computerized emotion recognition task was administered with simultaneous recording of heart rate variability via electrocardiography, reflecting parasympathetic activity. Additionally, prosocial behavior was measured by willingness to help an excluded classmate and inclusive thinking by a social grouping task. RESULTS: Analysis of covariance revealed a statistically significant group effect for emotion recognition accuracy ( P < 0.05, η² p = 0.07), which indicated that EX had a greater posttest accuracy compared to EX+CO and CON, when adjusted for pretest scores, age, and sex. Better behavioral performance at posttest was correlated with less inclusive thinking ( r (73) = 0.20, P = 0.091), whereas no correlation with was found with parasympathetic activity during the emotion recognition task. CONCLUSIONS: A short exercise session can temporarily enhance emotion recognition abilities, which are related to social behaviors essential for classroom dynamics. The exercise-induced benefit does not seem to be related to a parasympathetic withdrawal, but depends on the required level of cooperation.