简介：Theeffectsofexerciseondecision-makingperformancehavebeenstudiedusingawidevarietyofcognitivetasksandexerciseinterventions.Althoughthecurrentliteraturesupportsabeneficialinfluenceofacuteexerciseoncognitiveperformance,themechanismsunderlyingthisphenomenonhavenotyetbeenelucidated.Wereviewstudiesthatusedsingle-pulsetranscranialmagneticstimulation(TMS)toprobetheexcitabilityofmotorstructuresduringwhole-bodyexerciseandpresentaframeworktoaccountforthefacilitatingeffectsofacuteexerciseonmotorprocesses.Recentresultssuggestthat,evenintheabsenceoffatigue,theincreaseincorticospinalexcitabilityclassicallyreportedduringsubmaximalandexhaustingexercisesmaybeaccompaniedbyareductioninintracorticalinhibition.Weproposethatreducedintracorticalinhibitionelicitsanadaptivecentralmechanismthatcounteractstheprogressivereductioninmuscleresponsivenesscausedbyperipheralfatigue.Suchareductionwouldrenderthemotorcortexmoresensitivetoupstreaminfluences,thuscausingincreasedcorticospinalexcitability.Furthermore,reductionofintracorticalinhibitionmayaccountforthemoreefficientdescendingdriveandfortheimprovementofreactiontimeperformanceduringexercise.Theadaptivemodulationinintracorticalinhibitioncouldbeimplementedthroughageneralincreaseinreticularactivationthatwouldfurtheraccountforenhancedsensorysensitivity.