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Related Experiment Video

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Exercise Snacks Improve Cognitive Processing Efficiency: Evidence From Behavioral and fNIRS Studies.

Benke Xu¹, Wenjun Li², Jijun Fan²

¹School of Physical Education, Shandong University, JiNan, China.

Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports

|December 31, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Short bursts of exercise, called exercise snacks (ES), significantly improved cognitive performance in high school students. This intervention enhanced brain activity and connectivity, leading to faster reaction times.

Keywords:

cognitive processing efficiency exercise snacks fNIRS neural mechanisms

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Exercise Physiology
Cognitive Psychology

Background:

Cognitive performance is crucial for academic success.
Exercise interventions are being explored for cognitive benefits in adolescents.
Understanding the neural mechanisms of exercise on cognition is important.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effects of a 6-week exercise snacks (ES) intervention on cognitive performance in high school students.
To explore the underlying prefrontal neurovascular coupling mechanisms using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Main Methods:

A randomized controlled trial with 89 high school students.
Participants were assigned to an ES group (three 90-s high-intensity sessions/day, 3 days/week) or a control group.
Cognitive performance (Stroop task), prefrontal cortex activation, and functional connectivity (fNIRS) were assessed.

Main Results:

ES significantly improved reaction times for both congruent and incongruent tasks.
Enhanced activation was observed in the right frontopolar area and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
ES strengthened prefrontal functional connectivity, with L-DLPFC-R-FPA connectivity mediating reaction time improvements.

Conclusions:

Exercise snacks (ES) enhance neural efficiency, leading to faster reaction times without compromising accuracy.
The intervention optimizes prefrontal neural synergy, suggesting a feasible school-based approach.
A total of 4.5 minutes of daily high-intensity micro-exercise can be beneficial.