Aerobic fitness modulates arithmetic strategy use in college-aged young adults

The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the extent to which individuals at the extremes of the aerobic fitness continuum differed in their utilization of arithmetic strategies.

Using a cross-sectional design, 37 higher aerobically fit and 37 lower aerobically fit participants completed a complex arithmetic task while neuroelectric measures were concurrently recorded. The arithmetic task had participants view a pair of sequentially presented two-digit operands and determine if the sum was greater than or <100 which manipulated the utilization of exact and approximate arithmetic strategies.

Individuals with higher aerobic fitness demonstrated a greater tendency to utilize more efficient approximate arithmetic strategies as the sums grew more distant from 100 in contrast to their lower aerobic fitness counterparts, indexed using a composite measure of behavioral and neuroelectric data.

Superior aerobic fitness relates to a greater ability to shift between procedural strategies for arithmetic problems.