Exercise reduced reported anxiety in students with high test anxiety
Test anxiety decreased with exercise compared with seated reading. The abstract also describes laboratory task changes, but gives less detail about their statistical comparisons.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
An aerobic exercise session reduced reported test anxiety compared with seated reading in students selected for high test anxiety. Researchers also described faster task responses and a smaller reaction-time gap between conflicting and nonconflicting trials. The abstract leaves the comparison behind that gap unclear and does not establish better exam performance or lasting anxiety relief.
The abstract gives no effect sizes, confidence intervals or exam scores, and does not establish how long the changes lasted. It also leaves the statistical comparison for the conflict-effect result unclear.
What researchers found
Self-reported test anxiety
Exercise versus seated reading at post-intervention assessment; pre/post assessments were 1 week apart.
The question behind the task
The study asked whether exercise could improve control over distracting information in anxious students. The task compared response times for conflicting and nonconflicting information; the reported gap between those times narrowed after exercise.
What brain recordings add
Electrical brain recordings showed changes in task-related responses after exercise, without comparable changes in the reading group. These measurements offer physiological context for the task findings, but do not measure success in an exam.
The original publication
Acute aerobic exercise improves inhibitory control in individuals with test anxiety: evidence from event-related potentials.
Wu L, Zhou R
Physiol Behav · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41651391
- Record checked
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