Experimental effects of acute exercise on episodic memory acquisition: Decomposition of multi-trial gains and losses

Eveleen Sng; Emily Frith; Paul D Loprinzi

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.01.014

Experimental effects of acute exercise on episodic memory acquisition: Decomposition of multi-trial gains and losses

Physiol Behav. 2018 Mar 15:186:82-84. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.01.014.

Authors

Eveleen Sng¹, Emily Frith¹, Paul D Loprinzi²

Affiliations

¹ Exercise Psychology Laboratory, Physical Activity Epidemiology Laboratory, Department of Health, Exercise Science and Recreation Management, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA.
² Exercise Psychology Laboratory, Physical Activity Epidemiology Laboratory, Department of Health, Exercise Science and Recreation Management, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA. Electronic address: pdloprin@olemiss.edu.

PMID: 29405944
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.01.014

Abstract

Objective: Research demonstrates that acute exercise may enhance retention of multi-trial episodic memories. Previous work has examined the effects of exercise on the mean level of memory recall. However, no study has examined whether exercise can influence the acquisition of new items, which was the purpose of this experiment.

Methods: Using a randomized controlled trial design, participants (young adults; M_age=22yrs) completed either a high-intensity bout of treadmill exercise for 15-min (n=22) or sat (n=22) prior to completing a multi-trial episodic memory task. This task involved recalling 15 words for six successive trials, as well as after a 20-min delay (Trial 7). The performance on the multiple trials was categorized into gains (items not recalled on Trial n that were recalled on Trial n+1) and losses (items recalled on Trial n that were not recalled on Trial n+1).

Results: The exercise group recalled more words on Trial 6 (11.4 vs. 9.7; P=0.009) and after the 20-min delay (10.9 vs. 9.4; P=0.01). The exercise group (vs. control) had a smaller proportion of losses from Trial 3-4 (10.4% vs. 20.3%; P=0.04) and had a greater proportion of gains from Trial 5-6 (38.5% vs. 14.8%; P=0.01).

Conclusions: The exercise-induced multi-trial memory effect may be influenced by greater item gains.

Keywords: Memory encoding; Memory recall; Physical activity; RAVLT.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

Exercise / psychology*
Female
Humans
Learning*
Male
Memory, Episodic*
Mental Recall
Young Adult