Working Out After Completing A Learning Task Can Improve Memory

Working out four hours after completing a learning task can help improve memory retention capabilities of the individual. These are the findings of a new study conducted by a team of researchers from the Donders Institute in the Radboud University Medical Center.

While working out after a learning task may help improve memory, the researchers say that leaving no gap between studying and exercising or not indulging in physical exercise at all does not have either negative or positive impact on the memory of an individual.

The researchers conducted the study on a group of 72 individuals. All of the subjects were provided with a 40-minute learning task. After the completion of the task, the subjects were divided into three groups.

The first group started exercising immediately after completing the task, while the second group started exercising four hours after completing the task. The third and the last group did not exercise at all after completing the learning task.

The first and the second group of participants used an ergometer to perform the exercise for 35 minutes. The researchers then performed a memory test on all the participants after 48 hours of the completion of the learning task. The team also analyzed the brain activity of each participant with the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

To their surprise, the research team found that those who exercised four hours after the completion of a memory task had the best memory recall, followed by those who did not take up any form of physical exercise after the completion of the task.

The second group of people who exercised right after completing the learning task performed the worst on memory recall. As of now, the researchers are not sure why subjects who exercised right after the learning task performed even worse than those who did not exercise at all.