The effects of acute exercise on episodic memory function among young university students: Moderation considerations by biological sex

© 2019 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate potential sex-specific differences on episodic memory function and determine whether sex moderates the effects of acute exercise on episodic memory. Methods: A randomized controlled intervention was employed. This experiment was conducted among young University students (mean age = 21 years). Both males (n=20) and females (n=20) completed two counterbalanced laboratory visits, with one visit involving a 15-minute bout of moderate-intensity exercise prior to the memory task. The control visit engaged in a time-matched seated task. Memory function (including short-term memory, learning, and long-term memory) was assessed from the RAVLT (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test). Results: We observed a significant main effect for time (P\u3c 0.001, ƞ2p= 0.77) and a marginally significant main effect for sex (P= 0.06, ƞ2p= 0.09), but no time by sex by condition interaction (P= 0.91, ƞ2p= 0.01). We also observed some suggestive evidence of a more beneficial effect of acute exercise on memory for females. Conclusion: In conclusion, females outperformed males in verbal memory function. Additional research is needed to further evaluate whether sex moderates the effects of acute exercise on memory function