Honors Theses

Date of Award

Spring 5-9-2024

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Health, Exercise Science, and Recreation Management

First Advisor

Paul Loprinzi

Second Advisor

Stephanie Miller

Third Advisor

Jeffrey Bednark

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Acute exercise has been shown to differentially impact memory, dependent on whether the task is considered prefrontal cortex- or hippocampal-dependent. More specifically, acute exercise has been shown to impair PFC-dependent memory while enhancing hippocampal-dependent memory. No study has compared whether exercise differentially impacts separate types of cognition, so this experiment was designed to determine the relationship between high-intensity acute exercise and both prefrontal cortex-dependent and hippocampal-dependent memory. This study consisted of five total visits for 55 participants. In the first visit, participants engaged in a maximal exercise test, where their heart rate reserve was obtained. In visits 2-5, participants engaged in either high-intensity acute exercise or a session of rest, then completed either a PFC-dependent or hippocampal-dependent memory task. The results of this study found no conclusive evidence that high-intensity acute exercise impairs prefrontal cortex-dependent memory or enhances hippocampal-dependent memory. However, this study provides several recommendations for future research that will help to gain a better understanding of the potential effect of acute exercise on memory.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Available for download on Wednesday, April 30, 2025

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