Effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance

Biology

Cognition

Psychiatry

Executive functions

Aerobic exercise

Paleontology

Test (biology)

Psychology

Physical therapy

Meta-analysis

Internal medicine

Cognitive test

Medicine

Physical medicine and rehabilitation

Clinical psychology

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

An increasing number of studies has focused on the after-effects of acute aerobic exercise on executive function. To date, empirical evidence lacks consensus regarding whether acute aerobic exercise has beneficial effects on executive function. To identify possible sources of this discrepancy, the present study focused on executive function demands and pre-test cognitive performance, and performed the first meta-analysis of individual participant data (IPD meta-analysis) in this area of research. Results indicated that the beneficial after-effects of acute aerobic exercise on cognitive performance were greater in participants with lower cognitive performance at pre-test. Acute aerobic exercise offered general benefits to cognitive performance irrespective of executive function demands, when pre-test cognitive performance was appropriately controlled. Thus, the present IPD meta-analysis suggests that pre-test cognitive performance is one possible source of the conflicting findings in acute exercise studies. Future research is encouraged to consider pre-test cognitive performance to avoid underestimating the beneficial after-effects of acute exercise.

The effects of acute aerobic exercise on executive function: A systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data