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Effects of exercise intervention on executive function in college students: a systematic review and meta-analysis of
Wenhua Zhang1, Keliang Chen1, Jingqi Mei2
1College of Physical Education and Health, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, Guangxi, China.
Objective:
This study aims to systematically evaluate the effects of acute and long-term exercise interventions on executive functions (inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility) in college students, and to explore the moderating roles of measurement paradigms, exercise dosage, and scoring methods.
Methods:
We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, CNKI, and Wanfang from database inception to March 5, 2026, for randomized controlled trials on exercise interventions for executive function in college students. Two reviewers independently screened records, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane ROB 2 tool. Meta-analyses were performed using Stata 17.0, with either fixed-effect or random-effect models selected based on heterogeneity.
Results:
A total of 16 randomized controlled trials involving 868 college students were included. Acute exercise interventions significantly improved inhibitory control (g = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.95) and cognitive flexibility (g = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.23, 1.39), but the improvement in working memory did not reach statistical significance (g = 0.10, 95% CI: -0.21, 0.42). Long-term exercise interventions significantly improved inhibitory control (g = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.34, 0.70) and working memory (g = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.37, 0.78), whereas the effect size for cognitive flexibility was small and not statistically significant (g = 0.25, 95% CI: -0.05, 0.55). Subgroup analyses indicated that the effects of exercise interventions on subcomponents of executive function varied according to measurement paradigms, exercise dosage (duration, frequency, period, intensity), and scoring methods.
Conclusion:
Acute and long-term exercise show distinct patterns of improving executive functions in college students. Acute exercise significantly enhances cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control but has limited effects on working memory. Long-term exercise significantly enhances inhibitory control and working memory but shows no significant effect on cognitive flexibility.
Systematic Review Registration:
https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/, identifier CRD420261364227.