The Effect of a Single Bout of Mid Intensity Aerobic Activity on Learning and Memory of Young Adults

Background: Many studies have examined the effect of physical activity (PA) on cognitive functions, but mainly assessing simple reaction time or accuracy, with only a few studies directly assessing the effects of PA on learning or on long-term memory.

Aim: To examine the effects of a single bout of mid intensity aerobic exercise on the learning process of procedural memory for a motor skill among young adults.

Methods: Thirty-two physically active young adults (age = 20-30 yr) participated in six sessions, divided into two phases. Sixteen started with the PA intervention that comprised of a single, 25 minute long, session of mid intensity aerobic exercise. In the second phase of the experiment, two weeks after the 1^st phase, they participated in the control conditions, which included watching a silent film, prior to learning the sequence of the procedural motor task. The rest performed the experimental phases in the reverse order. The procedural motor task was the finger to thumb opposition sequence (FOS) task. Each phase included: a PA or no-PA interval, a 5 minute break and a pre-test (T0) followed by a learning experience (manual task training) an immediate post-test (T1), a re-test at 24 hours post-session (T2) and a fourth test for assessing long-term retention at 2 weeks after the learning experience (T3).

Results: The results of this study showed that in both conditions: PA intervention and control, participants showed a significantly improved speed (F_3,93=1052.71; p<.01) and accuracy (F_3,93=237.05; p<.01) of the motor procedural task between T0 to T3. However, significant differences were observed between conditions at each time point (T0-T3) implying on the advantage of PA both for speed (F_1,31=166.32; p<.01) and for accuracy (F_1,31=331.33; p<.01).

Discussion: The results of the study show that a single bout of PA comprising 25 minutes of mid intensity aerobic led to a clear advantage in the learning processes and in long-term procedural memory of a motor task.

Conclusion: The present findings point to a positive effect of an acute bout of aerobic exercise on acquiring, consolidating and retaining a movement sequence in long-term memory. Based upon this, these findings could be used to encourage the establishment of aerobic exercise prior learning new motor tasks.