Does music support executive functions and affective responses during acute exercise? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction Maintaining a steady running pace despite physical or mental fatigue often engages executive functions. These functions may contribute to sustaining exercise participation by regulating cognitive and affective responses to the demands of physical exercise. Research on both music and acute exercise independently shows engagement of executive functions and affective responses, with exercise intensities influencing outcomes. However, the combined effects of music and acute exercise on executive functions and affective outcomes remain underexplored. Methods Accordingly, this review examines how music may interact with executive functions and affective responses during acute exercise. Results Ten studies met the inclusion criteria, with nine providing data for effect size calculations across 21 intervention arms. Narrative synthesis indicated context-dependent patterns between music and acute exercise combinations, particularly at low-to-moderate exercise intensities. Meta-analyses report non-significant effects of music and acute exercise on attention allocation, inhibitory control, and core affect. A meta-regression pooling 18 effect sizes from nine studies suggested that higher exercise intensities and older mean participant age were associated with smaller effects of music and explained a substantial proportion of between-study variance, although residual heterogeneity remained high and these findings should be interpreted cautiously. A descriptive subgroup analysis showed a decreasing pattern across exercise intensities (low: g = 3.99; moderate: g = 0.99; high: g = 0.28), though substantial heterogeneity persisted, and the reported effects do not appear to generalize consistently across studies. Discussion The current synthesised evidence appears inconclusive regarding music’s influence on executive functions and affective responses during acute exercise. Systematic review registration https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42023465958 .