A burst of exercise boosts cognitive performance, neuroscientists find

Decades of exercise research data support the common belief that long-term, sustained exercise not only produces physical benefits but also improves brain function. But what about just one workout? A team of scientists at UC Santa Barbara took a closer look.

Their study, “A systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis provides evidence for the effect of intensive cognitive training in older adults,” was recently published in Communication Psychology.

“One of the most consistent findings in the literature is that exercise routines—something like a program that you participate in, say, three times a week for several months or years many—enhancing cognition and promoting neurogenesis (the process by which new neurons are formed in the brain),” said Barry Giesbrecht, a professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences and senior author of the study. “But studies looking at the effects of single, high-intensity exercise have been very mixed.”

Focusing on subjects between the ages of 18-45, first author Jordan Garrett—who earned his Ph.D. from the June department—and the team reviewed thousands of exercise studies published between 1995 and 2023 to find consistent trends in the literature. Based on the results of their modeling approach, cycling and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) produced similar effects in improving memory, attention, executive function, information processing in light and other mental functions.

“We found that intensive activities had the biggest effects,” Giesbrecht said. “Also, the results were strongest for studies that tested after exercise, as opposed to during exercise. And finally, the effects of exercise in less than 30 minutes per longer durations were greater than those that exceeded 30 minutes they were affected by different factors.”

Also among their findings, the team found that executive function was an important area of ​​the brain affected by high-intensity exercise, such as HIIT protocols.

“I think another interesting result is that the overall effect of a single exercise was usually on the small side,” Giesbrecht said, noting that in addition to differences between trials, improvements can also be small because they are usually measured. when physical work is not related to mental work. This raises the “interesting” theory, he added, that perhaps using activities that require the integration of our physical actions and mental processes can result in many benefits.

Giesbrecht and his team plan to put the idea to the test “using a combination of lab work and real-world work,” he said.