Although, it is well established that regular exercise has a positive effect on various domains of cognitive functions, effects of a single session (acute) exercise on cognitive functions of an young adult is under debate. While a numbers of research have found positive associations between acute exercise and cognitive performance, multiple research have found no effect of acute exercise on the cognitive functions. There are also evidences that suggest that acute exercise reduces brain function of healthy young adults. This thesis took on a meta-analytical approach to determine the effect of a single session exercise on the cognitive functions of healthy young adults, and metaregression analyses were performed to identify the moderators that may influence the effect of acute exercise on cognitive functions of healthy young adults. After a comprehensive electronic search 59 experimental studies were found to be eligible for inclusions based on the pre-specified criteria. Results indicated that acute exercise has a small but significant effect on the cognitive functions of healthy young adults. However, larger effects are possible for particular cognitive outcomes (reaction time), when specific exercise parameters are used (5 minutes of exercise duration, moderate intensity exercise), and when specific assessment task is used (visual span board task, and serial subtraction of 7). The overall findings of this study is consistent with previous research. However, more research is needed to get a clear understanding of the acute exercise effect moderators.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:du-34433 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Rahman, Oarisur, Balakrishnan, Shrikant |
| Publisher | Högskolan Dalarna, Mikrodataanalys, Högskolan Dalarna, Mikrodataanalys |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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