Volume 34, Issue 12 e70006
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Long-Term High-Intensity Interval Training Intervention Improves Emotional Conflict Control in Association With Right Ventrolateral Prefrontal Activation in Males With Methamphetamine Use Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Meiheng He

Meiheng He

School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China

School of Psychology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China

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Lili Wang

Lili Wang

School of Educational Science, Huaiyin Normal University, Huaian, China

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Ding Xu

Ding Xu

Shanghai Bureau of Drug Rehabilitation Administration, Shanghai, China

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Ying Liu

Ying Liu

School of Psychology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China

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Xiangru Zhu

Xiangru Zhu

Institute of Cognition, Brain and Health, Henan University, Kaifeng, China

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Dong Zhu

Corresponding Author

Dong Zhu

School of Wushu, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China

Correspondence:

Dong Zhu ([email protected])

Suyong Yang ([email protected])

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Suyong Yang

Corresponding Author

Suyong Yang

School of Psychology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China

Correspondence:

Dong Zhu ([email protected])

Suyong Yang ([email protected])

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First published: 20 December 2024
Citations: 1

Funding: This study was funded by the Shanghai Bureau of Drug Rehabilitation Administration under Grant (SF201920107) and the Nature Science Foundation of JiangSu Province (BK20191485).

ABSTRACT

Acute high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has cognitive benefits in individuals with methamphetamine use disorder (MUD), yet it remains largely unknown the benefits of long-term HIIT on emotional conflict control and its neural mechanism in individuals with MUD. The current study conducted a 36-week low-volume HIIT intervention to investigate the effects of HIIT on emotional conflict control in males with MUD and their prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation. This study was a sub-study of the Study for Rehabilitation Training Model Construction and Training Effect of High Intensity Compound Exercise Prescription. Forty males with MUD (31.50 ± 4.33 years) were randomly assigned to the HIIT group and control group. The HIIT group received a 36-week low-volume HIIT intervention, while the control group maintained daily physical exercise. The emotional conflict task (emotional face-word Stroop task) with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) recording and subjective craving test were performed before and after the intervention. The results showed that the HIIT intervention reduced the emotional conflict and increased cortical activations of right dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) and right ventrolateral PFC (vlPFC). More importantly, the HIIT-induced decreased emotional conflict was associated significantly with increased right vlPFC activation. In addition, subjective craving was also reduced after HIIT intervention. While the control group showed significant changes in neither brain activation nor the craving. These findings suggest that long-term low-volume HIIT can improve PFC activation, promote emotional conflict control, and reduce subjective craving in males with MUD. HIIT seems to be an effective method of withdrawal rehabilitation for males with MUD.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that supports the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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