Effects of aerobic exercise and resistance exercise on cognitive functioning in healthy young adults

Volman, Miko (2023) Effects of aerobic exercise and resistance exercise on cognitive functioning in healthy young adults. Master thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

Introduction. Evidence suggests that physical exercise has positive effects on cognitive functioning in elderly, including differential effects for aerobic exercises and resistance exercises. To date, there is little evidence whether aerobic exercise and resistance exercise also affect cognitive functioning in young adults. Aim. To investigate the effect of different types of exercise on cognitive functioning (i.e., working memory, inhibition and cognitive flexibility) in young adults using a cross-sectional design. Method. Young adults (N=102) were asked to report retrospectively on their physical activities, and were -based on the type of physical activity- divided in four groups: no-exercise group (NEG; N=8), aerobic exercise group (AEG; N=42), resistance exercise group (REG; N=15), and combined aerobic and resistance exercise group (CG; N=37). All participants completed cognitive tests focused on working memory, inhibition and cognitive flexibility. Analysis of (co)variance with post hoc comparisons were applied to evaluate differential effects between the different exercise groups. Results. The exercise groups showed a better performance than the no-exercise group on one inhibition and one cognitive flexibility test. No differential effects between the different exercise groups were found on all three cognitive domains. For working memory tasks, no significant differences were found between the exercise and no-exercise group, nor were there differential effects between the different exercise groups. Conclusion. Previous findings of physical exercises on cognitive functioning from randomized controlled trial studies could hardly be verified in the present cross-sectional study in young adults. Possibly the classification of participants based on self-reported physical activity into the different exercise groups is not valid enough to draw clear conclusions about the effect of physical exercise on cognitive functioning in young adults. Further research with larger and more delineated exercise groups is recommended.

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Koerts, J. and Poelarends, H.G.J.W.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	Clinical Neuropsychology (CN) [Master Psychology]
Date Deposited:	15 May 2023 08:28
Last Modified:	15 May 2023 08:28
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/1964

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