Experimental investigation of the effects of acute exercise on memory interference

Abstract

Background: Among other factors, including the decay theory, interfering stimuli (proactive and retroactive interference; PI and RI) may influence the encoding and consolidation of target information. Acute exercise can enhance episodic memory function, but no experiments have evaluated whether exercise can attenuate PI and RI effects on memory, which was the purpose of this experiment.Methods: Twenty young adults were randomized (via computer program) into one of 6 experimental groups (N=120, n=20 per group), including 3 PI (G1, G2, and G3) and 3 RI groups (G4, G5, and G6). Those in G1 and G4 exercised prior to a 10-list AB/AC paradigm with interference; G2 and G5 did not exercise but had interference; and G3 and G6 were the control groups with no exercise and no interference.Results: The mean (95% CI) number of correctly recalled word pairs across the 6 respective groups was 2.4 (1.2-3.5), 2.4 (1.3-3.5), 5.1 (3.9-6.3), 6.9 (5.7-8.0), 5.0 (4.2-5.8), and 6.1 (5.1-6.9) (FANOVA=11.7; P<0.001; η2=0.33). For PI, the control group (group 3) correctly recalled more word pairs (5.1) when compared to the exercise interference group (2.4; group 1) or the non-exercise interference group (2.4; group 2). The difference between group 1 and 3 (2.4 vs.5.1) was significant (P=0.003), as was group 2 vs. 3 (P=0.002). For the RI groups (groups 4-6),group 4 differed from group 5 (6.9 vs. 5.0; P=0.01), but there was no difference between group 4 and group 6 (P=0.25) or group 5 and group 6 (P=0.09).Conclusion: These preliminary findings suggest that acute exercise may be more beneficial for RI compared to PI, but additional experimental work is needed.

Effects of Intensity-Specific Acute Exercise on Paired-Associative Memory and Memory Interference

“…In conclusion, this study implemented a within-subject design to examine the effects of acute exercise intensity on paired-associative memory and the attenuation of memory interference. The results demonstrated that moderate-and vigorous-intensity acute exercise did not have an effect on memory interference, which aligns with other recent experiments [13,14,56]. However, our results provide support for vigorous exercise having a greater effect on enhancing paired-associative memory.…”

“…Our present study expands upon this emerging literature by manipulating exercise intensity in a within-subject design and, unlike the previous studies on exercise and memory interference [13,14,56], the present study more robustly assessed both proactive and retroactive interference. Our experiment did not provide convincing evidence for an effect of acute exercise to attenuate memory interference.…”

“…Haynes and Loprinzi demonstrated that memory recall was improved when moderate-intensity exercise occurred prior to the memory task (encoding), although acute exercise did not statistically significantly attenuate proactive memory interference [14]. Wingate et al established that moderate-intensity acute exercise may have a protective effect against retroactive, but not proactive memory interference [56]. In a separate study examining the role of moderate-and vigorous-intensity acute exercise before memory encoding, a control condition with no exercise, exercise during memory encoding, and exercise after memory encoding, the group that exercised prior to memory encoding recalled the most words from List B of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning memory task, though differences between the conditions were not statistically significant for moderate-or vigorous-intensity acute exercise [13].…”

“…The two exercise conditions (moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity) included a 15-min bout of treadmill exercise (brisk walking and jogging, respectively), followed by a 5-min recovery period. Previous literature has demonstrated that this exercise mode and a 15-min bout length is sufficient in demonstrating exercise-induced improvements in memory [13,14,20,43,[54][55][56]. The HRR equation used to evaluate exercise intensity was: HRR = [(HRmax − HRrest) × % intensity] + HRrest.…”

Experimental Manipulation of Psychological Control Scenarios: Implications for Exercise and Memory Research

“…Reading a neutral text, which has been used in other experiments [13], induces a neutral valence effect, and may be less cognitively demanding. Lastly, watching a funny video, which has also been utilized in other experiments [14,15], induces a greater valence effect. Notably, there is some evidence to suggest that valence may influence cognitive function [16].…”