Exercise Similarly Facilitates Men and Women's Selective Attention Task Response Times but Differentially Affects...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Exercise Physiology
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Acute, moderate-intensity exercise is known to improve selective attention and memory.
• Men and women exhibit distinct performance patterns on cognitive tasks.
• Previous studies have not investigated sex-specific effects of exercise on memory and attention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if acute, moderate-intensity exercise differentially impacts men's and women's selective attention and memory.
• To examine the effects of exercise on memory encoding and retrieval in both sexes.

Main Methods:

• Participants completed two 10-minute sessions: moderate-intensity exercise (jumping rope/walking) or an active control (watching videos/walking).
• Cognitive assessments included a selective attention task and a recognition/object location memory task administered immediately post-session.
• Performance metrics were analyzed for overall effects, sex differences, and interactions between exercise and task order.

Main Results:

• Exercise led to faster selective attention performance overall, with no sex differences observed.
• Women demonstrated superior recognition memory compared to men.
• Moderate-intensity exercise specifically enhanced object location memory in men, contingent on task order.

Conclusions:

• Acute, moderate-intensity exercise exerts differential effects on men's and women's memory performance.
• Observed sex-specific memory enhancements may involve interactions between exercise, sex hormones, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).