A short bout of low to moderate aerobic exercise influences cognitive performance in healthy adults based on task type, timing, and individual factors

Background: Many young adults experience stress and poor mental health, which can negatively impact cognitive performance and overall well-being. Short aerobic exercise sessions may help enhance cognitive processing in healthy individuals, but some questions remain Aim/methods: This study examined how a brief 16-minute aerobic exercise session, involving cycling at low to moderate intensity, affects verbal memory, fluency, and cognitive switching before, during, or after exercise across two testing sessions-one with exercise and one without-in 19 healthy young adults (both men and women). Verbal learning and memory were assessed before and after exercise, whereas verbal fluency and cognitive switching were assessed during the exercise. Performance was compared with the control condition of "no exercise" using a crossover design to investigate order-dependent selective effects of testing time and context (i.e., whether exercise occurred during the first or second session). Mean heart rate (mean HR), vagally mediated heart rate variability (HRV), and self-reported physical activity levels were also measured to control for physiological arousal, habitual physical activity, and self-regulation (HRV). Results: Cognitive performance varied across tasks. The results suggest order-dependent selective effects of the testing time. Correlations between individual HRV at rest or habitual physical activity, mean heart rate during exercise, and performance were found in exploratory analyses. Conclusion: Short bouts of low-to-moderate aerobic exercise modulate cognitive processing in healthy adults. However, this depends on the order-dependent selective effects of exercise timing and whether the tasks are new or familiar. The findings underscore the importance of these factors in determining when and how short aerobic exercise sessions affect cognitive performance in healthy individuals. The results are limited by factors such as a small sample size. Recommendations are provided to address these limitations and explore ways to improve them.