Öz
Physical and metabolic benefits for physical activity and exercise are well documented in literature. Recently, its effects on executive functions, including complex cognitive processes, have been a subject of interest. Most research on executive functions has focused on short-term effects of physical activity and exercise. There is little published data on long-term benefits on cognitive processes. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of mild-moderate aerobic exercise on inhibitory cognitive control in youth. The research was conducted on 13 girls and 17 boys (15 control group, 15 experimental group) participants in the 20-22 age range. In the study, personal information form and the eriksen flanker task test developed by Eriksen and Eriksen (1974) were applied as pretest and post-test. 12-week mild-moderate aerobic exercise intervention was applied to the individuals in the experimental group. The data obtained were analyzed with the JAMOVI (2.2.2.) program. In analyzing the data, descriptive statistics, repeated measures analysis of variance and TukeyHSD test was used. When the experimental and control groups were compared, the effect of 12-week mild-moderate aerobic exercise on cognitive control from executive functions was statistically significant (p<0.05). As a result, regular participation in physical activity and exercise in youth contributes positively to inhibitory cognitive control, which is one of the important executive functions.