TY - EJOU AU - Xu, Chang TI - Acute Aerobic Exercise Is Associated with Better Cognitive Reappraisal in Healthy Postmenopausal Women: Evidence from fNIRS T2 - International Journal of Mental Health Promotion PY - VL - IS - SN - 2049-8543 AB - Objectives: Postmenopausal women experience hormonal and psychosocial changes that can affect emotion regulation. Although exercise may enhance cognitive control during emotion regulation, evidence on prefrontal activation in this population is limited. This study examined whether acute moderate-intensity aerobic exercise influences emotion regulation and prefrontal activation in postmenopausal women. Methods: Postmenopausal women aged 45–60 years (≥12 months since last menstruation) randomised to a moderate-intensity aerobic exercise condition or a time-matched sedentary control condition (n = 102). Analyses included participants with usable behavioural and fNIRS data (exercise n = 32; control n = 35). The exercise group completed 30 min of cycling at 50–75% age-predicted HRmax (RPE 12–14), and the control group completed 30 min of seated rest. fNIRS measured task-evoked oxygenated haemoglobin changes in prefrontal subregions before and after the intervention. Results: Negative images were rated as more aversive than neutral images (F(3, 195) = 13.73, p < 0.001), confirming task validity. A 2 × 2 × 4 mixed ANOVA showed significant main effects of group, time, and emotion regulation strategy, and a significant Group × Emotion Regulation interaction (F(3, 195) = 7.18, p < 0.001). Compared with controls, the exercise group reported lower negative affect during reappraisal and suppression (all p < 0.001). NIRS showed significant Group × Time interactions in the left VLPFC, right VLPFC, and left DLPFC during reappraisal (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Acute aerobic exercise reduced negative emotions and improved emotion regulation, with greater activation of the bilateral VLPFC and left DLPFC. KW - Acute aerobic exercise; postmenopausal women; emotion regulation; functional near-infrared spectroscopy DO - 10.32604/ijmhp.2026.078865