Inter-Individual Differences in Cognitive Response to a Single Bout of Physical Exercise—A Randomized Controlled Cross-Over Study

• Main Authors: Svenja Schwarck, Marlen Schmicker, Milos Dordevic, Kathrin Rehfeld, Notger Müller, Patrick Müller
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-07-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical Medicine
• Subjects: acute exercise; cognition; lactate; responder; personalized medicine
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/8/8/1101

Recent reviews have shown that acute exercise can improve cognitive functions, especially executive functions. However, a closer look at the included studies revealed a wide inter-individual variability in the effects of exercise on cognition. Therefore, thirty-nine healthy adults (age: 19&#8722;30 years) were analyzed in a randomized, controlled cross-over study with two exercise groups (<i>n</i> = 13 each) and a sedentary control group (<i>n</i> = 13). The exercise conditions included moderate (30 min at 40&#8722;59% VO_2max) and high intensity interval (five &#215; 2 min at 90% VO_2max with 3 min active recovery at 40% VO_2max) treadmill exercise. The main outcome assessed was cognitive performance (attention, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility) and underlying inter-individual variability in young adults. On the group level no significant group or group &#215; time interaction effects were observed. Using a median split, we found significant differences between low and high cognitive performers regarding cognitive function following moderate and high intensity interval treadmill exercise. Furthermore, using a pre-determined threshold we could identify responders and non-responders to acute exercise. Therefore, future research should consider individual performance requirements.