Is approaching sedentary behaviour or physical activity a reward? An EEG study

To understand why individuals (do not) exercise, our study examined differences in approach and avoidance tendencies towards physical activity and sedentary behaviours among runners and non-runners, especially at the neural level. Using electroencephalography (EEG), 31 participants completed an approach-avoidance task. We found that at the behavioural level, non-runners were faster to approach sedentary behaviour relative to runners. However, at the neural level, they both had a tendency to avoid physical activity. Specifically, avoiding physical activity had less conflict monitoring (smaller N1), required more cognitive processes (larger P3), and was more neurologically efficient (higher alpha coherence). These results supported the theory of effort minimization in physical activity (TEMPA), with both runners and non-runners regarding sedentary behaviour as a reward. The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article [and/or] its supplementary materials.