The Role of the Time of Day in the Effects of Exercise on Memory in Heathy Young Adults

Part of paid clinical trials in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Sponsor
University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Study ID
NCT04861818
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Aerobic Exercise
  • Cognitive Change

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
18 Years - 25 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • Moderate-intensity aerobic exercise — BEHAVIORAL
    Eligible participants will come into the lab on day 1 and 3 at the same time of day (either morning at 7-10am or afternoon at 3-5pm). They will be then randomly assigned for a rest or an exercise session prior to the memory test. For the rest condition, they will be required to sit and relax while watching Planet Earth for 30 minutes on a cycle ergometer. During the exercise session, they will complete a moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise for 20 minutes following a 5-min warm-up and followed by a 5-min cool-down on a cycle ergometer. They will start the memory test immediately after the rest/exercise session.

Study Details

Cumulative evidence indicates that a single bout of exercise has beneficial impacts on memory in young adults. From a physiological perspective, acute exercise leads to changes of heart rate variability (HRV), which is associated with memory retrieval process. From a psychological perspective, acute exercise increases the arousal level and thus facilitates cognitive processing including memory storage and retrieval. Such HRV- and/or arousal-based effects of exercise on memory could be differed by the time of day in young adults based on their circadian rhythms of HRV. Moreover, young adults prefer afternoon or evening to morning in their circadian rhythms, demonstrating less wakefulness and lower memory performance in the morning relative to afternoon. Based on the potential psychophysiological mechanisms, exercise could impact young adults' memory differently by the time of day. The investigators aim to 1) determine the extent to which the time of day modulates how moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise impacts verbal-auditory and visuospatial short- and long-term memory in young adults, and 2) consider potential psychological and physiological markers that may mediate exercise's effects on cognitive performance. As cognitive benefits of exercise might differ by the time of day, it is important to investigate such interaction and make the right recommendations of the timing of exercise for young adults in academic settings.

Key Dates

Start date
Jun 21, 2021
Status verified
Dec 2024
Primary completion
Dec 30, 2025
Completion
Dec 30, 2025

Study Design

Enrollment
80 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE

Arms

  • Experimental: Morning group
    Participant are assigned to the morning group (7-9am) for 30-min exercise/rest interventions.
  • Experimental: Afternoon group
    Participant are assigned to the afternoon group (3-5pm) for 30-min exercise/rest interventions.

Primary Outcome Measure

Verbal episodic memory change [ Time Frame: Immediately after the intervention, the first cognitive test ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
UNC GreensboroGreensboroNorth Carolina27412
Kyounshin Park, PhD
[email protected]
336-256-1069

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By research site
UNC Greensboro· Greensboro, NC

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