Department of Health, Exercise Science and Recreation Management, Exercise & Memory Laboratory, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA.
Physiol Int. 2020 Sep 29;107(3):359-375. doi: 10.1556/2060.2020.00033. Print 2020 Oct 17.
Prior research has evaluated the effects of acute exercise on episodic memory function. These studies have, on occasion, demonstrated that acute exercise may enhance both short- and long-term memory. It is uncertain as to whether the acute exercise improvements in long-term memory are a result of acute exercise attenuating declines in long-term memory, or rather, are driven by the enhancement effects of acute exercise on short-term memory. The present empirical study evaluates whether the decline from short- to long-term is influenced by acute exercise. This relationship is plausible as exercise has been shown to activate neurophysiological pathways (e.g., RAC1) that are involved in the mechanisms of forgetting.
To evaluate the effects of acute exercise on forgetting, we used data from 12 of our laboratory's prior experiments (N = 538). Across these 12 experiments, acute exercise ranged from 10 to 15 mins in duration (moderate-to-vigorous intensity). Episodic memory was assessed from word-list or paragraph-based assessments. Short-term memory was assessed immediately after encoding, with long-term memory assessed approximately 20-min later. Forgetting was calculated as the difference in short- and long-term memory performance.
Acute exercise (vs. seated control) was not associated with an attenuated forgetting effect (d = 0.10; 95% CI: -0.04, 0.25, P = 0.17). We observed no evidence of a significant moderation effect (Q = 6.16, df = 17, P = 0.17, I2 = 0.00) for any of the evaluated parameters, including study design, exercise intensity and delay period.
Across our 12 experimental studies, acute exercise was not associated with an attenuated forgetting effect. We discuss these implications for future research that evaluates the effects of acute exercise on long-term memory function.
先前的研究已经评估了急性运动对情景记忆功能的影响。这些研究有时表明，急性运动可能增强短期和长期记忆。目前还不确定急性运动对长期记忆的改善是由于急性运动减缓了长期记忆的衰退，还是由于急性运动对短期记忆的增强作用。本实证研究评估了从短期到长期的衰退是否受到急性运动的影响。这种关系是合理的，因为运动已经显示出激活了与遗忘机制有关的神经生理途径（例如 RAC1）。
为了评估急性运动对遗忘的影响，我们使用了我们实验室之前的 12 项实验的数据（N=538）。在这 12 项实验中，急性运动持续时间从 10 到 15 分钟（中等至剧烈强度）。情景记忆是通过单词列表或段落评估来评估的。短期记忆在编码后立即评估，长期记忆在大约 20 分钟后评估。遗忘是通过短期和长期记忆表现的差异来计算的。
与坐姿对照组相比，急性运动（vs. 坐姿对照组）并没有减弱遗忘效应（d=0.10；95%CI：-0.04，0.25，P=0.17）。我们没有观察到任何有意义的调节效应（Q=6.16，df=17，P=0.17，I2=0.00），对于评估的任何参数，包括研究设计、运动强度和延迟期，都没有。
在我们的 12 项实验研究中，急性运动与遗忘效应减弱无关。我们讨论了这些研究结果对未来评估急性运动对长期记忆功能影响的研究的意义。
