Effect of acute aerobic exercise on cognitive performance: Role of cardiovascular fitness

Abstract

To determine whether fitness and cognitive task type moderate the relationship between acute exercise and cognition. Methods Thirty-six healthy college-aged adults completed a maximal graded exercise test and were categorized as low, moderate, or high in cardiovascular fitness. Participants then performed the Stroop Test prior to and after an acute bout of cycling exercise that consisted of a 5-min warmup, 20 min of exercise at moderate intensity (65% VO2max), and a 5-min cool-down. Results Individuals of all fitness levels improved in cognitive performance following exercise. With regards to fitness, while no differences were observed on the congruent condition as a function of fitness, high fit individuals showed the longest response time on the Stroop incongruent condition. Conclusion The beneficial relationship between performance of an acute bout of exercise and cognitive performance were observed for both cognitive task types and for participants of all fitness levels. However, a curvilinear relationship was observed between fitness and cognitive task type performance such that participants who were moderately fit performed the best on the incongruent trials, implying that maintaining fitness at a moderate level is associated with better executive function.

Effect of acute exercise and cardiovascular fitness on cognitive function: An event‐related cortical desynchronization study

“…This interaction revealed that aged adults who were more fit obtained more benefits from exercise than their less fit peers, suggesting that fitness level moderated the relationship between acute exercise and cognition. These results are consistent with a recent meta‐analysis (Chang et al., ) and contemporary empirical experience (Chang, Chi et al., ; Netz et al., ; Pesce et al., ). Increased benefits following acute exercise observed in old adults with high fitness levels may be contributed to by existing brain resources; old adults with higher fitness levels have been reported to possess a greater brain cortical functional connectivity related to cognitive function (Prakash et al., ; Voss et al., ).…”

Acute exercise has a general facilitative effect on cognitive function: A combined ERP temporal dynamics and BDNF study

“…Aerobic fitness and gender are two candidate individual difference variables. Recent studies have demonstrated that individuals with higher cardiorespiratory fitness demonstrate larger P3 amplitudes following acute exercise relative to their lower fit counterparts, suggesting a moderating role of aerobic fitness (Tsai et al, ); however, another recent study showed a curvilinear relationship between fitness level and an acute exercise‐induced benefit in Stroop task performance, with moderately fit individuals showing the largest acute exercise benefit compared to lower and higher fit groups (Chang, Chi et al, ). Collectively, these findings suggest an interesting moderating influence of fitness on the acute cognitive effects of exercise, and this influence and the underlying mechanisms require further investigation.…”

“…For instance, Lichtman and Poser () observed a general improvement on both Stroop color and Stroop color‐word conditions after a 45‐min exercise session that involved an aerobic run and other physical activities. In more recent studies, acute moderate intensity exercise for approximately 20 min has been shown to positively affect multiple Stroop task conditions (Chang, Chi et al, ; Chang, Chu, Wang, Song, & Wei, ), suggesting a general facilitative effect of acute exercise on multiple cognitive functions. The conflicting support for these two hypotheses plausibly results from methodologies employed in previous studies such as the exercise modality (e.g., aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, or lifestyle physical activity), exercise duration (e.g., from 20 to 45 min), and the selected populations (e.g., younger vs. middle‐aged adults; Chang, Chi et al, ; Chang, Chu, Wang, Wang et al, ; Chang, Tsai et al, ; Yanagisawa et al, ).…”

“…Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of acute exercise on stimulus‐locked ERP components occurring from 50 to 550 ms after stimulus onset, including N1, N2, P3, and N450 components. These ERP components were specifically selected because previous studies have demonstrated that they are reliably elicited by the Stroop task (Lorist & Jolij, ; Szucs & Soltesz, ), an executive function task that has received increasing research attention in the acute exercise and cognition literature, in part due to the task conditions that allow for the examination of the selective versus general improvement hypotheses of acute exercise (Chang, Chi et al, ; Chang, Chu, Wang, Wang et al, ; Chang, Tsai et al, ; Yanagisawa et al, ).…”

Acute Effects of Aerobic Physical Activities on Attention and Concentration in School-aged Children

“…If we asked students to simply rest for an entire academic lesson merely for the sake of this study, this would interrupt the school's regular academic schedules, so that the school administrators and teachers as well as parents would be hesitant to allow their students to participate in this study. Second, this study did not objectively measure students' intensity level of aerobic PA during the 30-min aerobic PA-focused PE lesson, although shuttle running and running through the obstacle courses continuously are good example of vigorous intensity aerobic-typed PA. Due to different levels of students' aerobic fitness which is an important moderator impacting PA and cognitive functions [25,36,37],future studies may objectively measure students' intensity levels in different experimental conditions using accelerometer to examine acute effects of aerobictyped PA with varying intensity levels on students' attentional performance late in the school day.…”