Influence of Single Bouts of Aerobic Exercise on Dual-Tasking Performance in Healthy Adults

Abstract

Dual-tasking performance (DTP) is critical for most real-life activities. Interventions to improve DTP would be clinically valuable. This study investigated effects of single-bouts of two different aerobic exercises on the performance of Extended cognitive Timed-Up and Go (ETUGcog), a dual-task test involving concurrent performance of a physical (ETUG) and cognitive (counting backwards serial 7 s) task. Twenty-two adults performed single bouts of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity exercise (MIE), separately. ETUGcog was performed before, immediately following, and 24 hours after each exercise. Number and rates of correct serial 7 s were significantly higher 24 hours after HIIT, with no difference in times to complete ETUGcog. No such effects were found for MIE. Single bouts of HIIT could provide delayed improvements in DTP.

Keywords:

• dual-task performance
• cognitive improvements
• high-intensity interval training
• aerobic exercise

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the students and staff of Radford University’s Department of Physical Therapy who participated as subjects for this study.

Declaration of interest

In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and our ethical obligation as researchers, we declare that we have no material or financial interests to disclose that relate to the research described in this paper. Also, we did not receive any funding to accomplish this research.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.