Original article
Exercise and Cognitive Function: A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining Acute Exercise and Free-Living Physical Activity and Sedentary Effects

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2014.12.023Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

To simultaneously examine the effects of acute exercise intensity and free-living physical activity and sedentary behavior on cognitive function in young, healthy adults.

Patients and Methods

Using a counterbalanced, crossover, randomized controlled design, 87 young adults (mean age, 21.4 years) completed various cognitive assessments with and without an acute bout of exercise preceding the assessment. Participants were randomized into 1 of 4 groups to complete a 30-minute bout of acute exercise: control (no exercise), light intensity (40%-50% of predicted maximum heart rate [HRmax]), moderate intensity (51%-70% of predicted HRmax), or vigorous intensity (71%-85% of predicted HRmax). Subjectively and objectively determined (accelerometry) physical activity and sedentary behavior were assessed to examine the association between these free-living behaviors and cognitive function. The study duration was August 26, 2013, to September 11, 2014.

Results

Concentration-related cognition (mean ± SD Feature Match test score) was significantly higher after a 30-minute acute bout of moderate-intensity exercise (145.1±26.9) compared with cognitive assessment without exercise (121.3±19.2; P=.004). Furthermore, questionnaire-determined sedentary behavior was inversely associated with visual attention and task switching (Trail Making Test A score) (β=–0.23; P=.04). Last, estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (volume of maximum oxygen consumption) was positively associated with reasoning-related cognitive function (Odd One Out test score) (β=0.49; P=.05); when adding metabolic equivalent of task minutes per week to this model, the results were not significant (β=0.47; P=.07).

Conclusion

These findings provide some support for acute moderate-intensity exercise, sedentary behavior, and cardiorespiratory fitness being associated with executive functioning–related cognitive function in young, healthy adults.

Section snippets

Sample and Design

Participants were eligible for the study if they were 35 years or younger, were “ready” to engage in PA as determined by the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire, spoke English, and provided written informed consent. Participants were excluded from the study if they perceived having any difficulty completing all the tests or had a current illness. No recruited participants were excluded. The study was conducted between August 26, 2013, and September 11, 2014.

Eighty-seven young (mean ± SD

Results

Descriptive characteristics of the study sample are shown in Table 1. Across the 4 experimental groups (control and light-, moderate-, and vigorous-intensity exercise), there were no differences in any of the demographic or PA/sedentary variables except VO2max and IPAQ-determined MET-min/wk; despite randomization, the control group, compared with the other groups, had lower VO2max and IPAQ-determined MET-min/wk. Across the experimental groups, mean (95% CI) HRs for the 30-minute acute bout of

Discussion

Overall, we observed few statistically significant associations. These findings, however, provide some evidence of a differential effect of acute exercise intensity on cognitive function. Unlike the other experimental intensity groups, participants who engaged in a 30-minute acute bout of moderate-intensity exercise on a treadmill had a higher Feature Match (concentration) test score compared with when they completed this test without any exercise before the cognitive assessment. This finding

Conclusion

Few statistically significant associations were observed between acute exercise or free-living PA/sedentary behavior and cognitive function. The results did, however, demonstrate that a 30-minute bout of acute moderate-intensity exercise may help improve concentration-related cognitive function. Furthermore, we also observed an association between sedentary behavior and attention-related cognitive function. Last, cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with reasoning-related cognitive function

Acknowledgments

We thank Prof Jerome F. Walker, Bellarmine University, for discussions on the analyses. We also thank the following student researchers for their involvement in data collection: Colleen Nalley, Chris Reader, Andrew Selk, Seth Sigler, Kathleen Codey, Christopher Hitchcock and Clinton Morris.

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