1. Introduction
PROLIFERATION
E-sports have been attracting more and more attention, with the number of spectators reaching 495 million and the revenue reaching approximately $1.1 billion in 2020.The link between physical activity and the brain has been of interest for some time, with most studies examining the effects of low to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and brain function. Aerobic exercise has also been reported to increase brain endothelial cell proliferation and angiogenesis.Acute aerobic exercise, also known as single-session exercise, lasting 10 to 60 minutes, is a type of exercise that uses aerobic metabolism to provide energy. It has been shown to affect cognitive function positively.Numerous pieces of evidence demonstrate the benefits of acute aerobic exercise, and there are numerous scientific studies on acute aerobic exercise interventions. However, although all their studies aimed to explore the effects of acute exercise on cognitive function in the general population, few studies have examined the effects of acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on the cognitive function of professional E-athletes. Most studies were limited to observing the immediate effects of acute aerobic exercise. They did not further explore the time-course characteristics of acute exercise.In summary, does a single bout of moderate-intensity physical exercise positively affect e-sports players’ cognitive functions, such as reaction time, accuracy, and visual memory? What are the time course characteristics of the impact on these cognitive functions? This study used laboratory experiments to observe the effects of acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on the cognitive function of e-sports players and to explore the time course characteristics of these effects. This benefit will allow eSports players to maintain excellent cognitive executive function after exercise, contributing to higher performance levels in competition. Also, given the benefits of acute aerobic exercise, the results of this experiment will help e-sports coaches or personal physicians to target better training and recovery integration training programs for e-sports players.We hypothesize that acute aerobic exercise intervention will improve e-sports players’ cognitive functions, such as reaction time, accuracy, and visual memory. The effects will exhibit specific time course characteristics.