Physical activity in short study breaks: Short-term effects on cognition and potential for implementation in students’ everyday life

Abstract

Prolonged bouts of sitting while studying are a common behavior in college students. To prevent sitting-induced decline in cognition, restorative breaks are necessary. The activity during the breaks should be beneficial for cognitive abilities and should show characteristics favoring the implementation of the activity in students’ everyday life. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a short physical activity intervention (running) on cognition and behaviorally important variables.

Using a within-subject crossover design with randomized starting order, 15 students of sport science completed a ten-minute running bout and a sitting bout with equal duration (washout: one week). The basal cognitive domain of visual attention was assessed immediately post-intervention using a modified trail making test. Information on perceived efficacy, affective states (pre, post, and at follow-up 30 minutes after the intervention), and satisfaction with the intervention (at follow-up) was collected.

Visual attention showed a significant period-by-sequence group interaction, p = .028, part. η² = 0.32, with higher attention immediately after the physical activity bout compared to the sitting bout. Perceived attention, p = .048, part. η² = 0.19, and perceived arousal, p = .007, part. η² = 0.30, showed significantly stronger pre-post increases after the physical activity bout compared to the sitting bout, which were not evident pre-follow-up, p > .596. No significantly different changes in affective valence were found between conditions, p = .669, part. η² = 0.03.

The findings suggest a short-term positive effect of the physical activity bout on cognition, revealing the potential of using physical activity bouts intentionally prior to cognitively challenging study tasks in the population of students of sport science. Furthermore, the physical activity bout in the present form (running indoors) showed limited potential for an implementation in students’ everyday life since the behaviorally important variables were similar at follow-up.