The Effects of Acute and Chronic Exercise on Cognitive Functioning

Healthy cognitive functioning (CF) is a process by which individuals are able to accurately engage in various CF-related tasks, including concentration, memory, planning, and reasoning. Exercise is associated with improved CF; however, we are uncertain as to the optimal intensity for eliciting improvements in CF. Further, most of the research on this topic has been limited to older adults. Lastly, few studies have examined associations between both acute and chronic exercise on CF. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine associations between acute and chronic exercise with CF on healthy, young adults (M age = 21.64 yrs, 68% Male). A series of CF tests were administered to 25 participants that assessed concentration, memory, planning, and reasoning. These tests were completed during two visits, separated by approximately 1 week. Participants completed an acute bout of exercise (30 min on a treadmill at a randomly assigned intensity [light, moderate, or vigorous]) during one of the visits, with the order counterbalanced. Chronic exercise was assessed via accelerometry for up to 7 days. Regarding acute exercise, a 30 min bout of acute exercise at a light-intensity (40-50% of HRmax) improved CF-related reasoning (14.8 vs. 18.6, p = 0.02), as assessed from the Grammatical Reasoning test. Similarly, a 30 min bout of moderate-intensity exercise (50-75% of HRmax) improved CF-related concentration (103.1 vs. 154.1, p = 0.01), as assessed from the Feature Match test of concentration. With regard to chronic exercise, for every 60 min increase in accelerometer-determined moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, there was a 5.4 point/unit increase (β = 5.4, p = 0.04) in CF-related reasoning, as assessed from the Odd-One-Out test. In summary, these findings suggest that both acute and chronic exercise may have a beneficial effect on CF-related reasoning and concentration among young healthy adults