Effects of low and moderate acute resistance exercise on executive function in community-living older adults.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the influence of acute bouts of low and moderate resistance exercise on the executive function of community-living older adults. Forty older adults (20 men and 20 women; age range: 60-75 years) were randomly assigned to an exercise or control group. The exercise group completed two 45-min resistance exercise bouts at 40% and 70% of their individual 10-repetition maximum on different days, whereas the control group watched an exercise-related video. To assess immediate and delayed effects of exercise on executive function, tests assessing working memory, response inhibition, and cognitive flexibility were performed before (pre-test), and 15 and 180 mins after the exercise. Exercise improved executive function, but no change was observed in the control group. The exerciseinduced gains were i) larger after moderate than low intensity exercise, ii) similar for women and men, and iii) larger at 15 than 180 min after exercise. These results indicate that exercise improves, at least transiently, executive function in healthy older adults.

Acute Exercise-Induced Set Shifting Benefits in Healthy Adults and Its Moderators: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Moreover, this meta-analysis was not able to differentiate between local and global switch cost as a separately primary endpoint. Since only three (Coles and Tomporowski, 2008;Barenberg et al, 2015;Naderi et al, 2018) of the 22 included studies used a variation of the Task-Switching Paradigm as neuropsychological test and therefore could report results for either global or local switch cost, a quantitative analysis for each variable was not possible. Future studies in this field should apply neuropsychological tests that allow a differentiation between local and global switch cost to enable further knowledge in this scientific field.…”

“…The results are inconsistent. While several studies showed beneficial effects (Murray and Russoniello, 2012;Jaffery et al, 2018;Naderi et al, 2018), other studies show no effects (Frith et al, 2017) or even detrimental effects (Basso et al, 2015). In an attempt to clarify this disparity, this meta-analysis is the first to examine potential moderators that might influence the effect of an acute exercise bout on subsequent set shifting performance.…”

Functional and/or structural brain changes in response to resistance exercises and resistance training lead to cognitive improvements – a systematic review

“…With regard to load, on the behavioral level, it was observed that an acute bout of moderate-load resistance exercises (70 to 100% of the 10RM, 10RM = the load needed for 10 repetitions until maximum exhaustion) improves the speed of processing, while resistance exercises with low load (40% of the 10RM) improve executive functions [138]. Furthermore, it was reported that improvements in executive functions were larger after moderate-load (70% of 10RM) than low-load (40% of 10RM) resistance exercises [156]. The finding that resistance exercises with moderate loads are especially beneficial for cognitive performance is supported by the observation that resistance exercises with moderate loads (60% 1RM) lead to larger positive effects on higher cognitive functions (i.e., Stroop interference score) Table 3 Overview of exercise variables and training variables [60,113,[354][355][356] Variables for structuring a single resistance exercise session (exercise variables) compared with resistance exercises with heavier loads (≥ 75% 1RM) [360].…”

Natural Is Not Always Better: The Varied Effects of a Natural Environment and Exercise on Affect and Cognition

“…Acute aerobic exercise of at least 20 min produces stronger effects on cognition than shorter bouts, particularly when cognitive assessments are completed 11–20 min after the cessation of exercise ( Chang et al, 2012 ). Regarding intensity, evidence suggests that moderate intensity leads to larger benefits for cognition than lower intensity (e.g., Naderi et al, 2019 ), and that exercise of greater intensity may produce longer-lasting benefits ( Chang et al, 2012 ).…”