How physical activity context relates to cognition across the lifespan: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis of 239 chronic and acute studies.
PubMed 40489179 · doi:10.1037/bul0000478
What was done
A multilevel systematic review and meta-analysis investigated how contextual moderators, individual factors (such as age), and physical activity characteristics (such as intensity and type) influence cognitive outcomes. The authors analyzed 171 chronic studies (654 effect sizes) and 68 acute exercise studies (305 effect sizes), comprising 48,625 participants across the lifespan from preschool age to older adulthood.
What was found
Small overall positive effects on cognition were observed for chronic physical activity (g = 0.25, 95% CI [0.19, 0.31]) and acute bouts (g = 0.21, 95% CI [0.12, 0.30]). Effects were jointly moderated by context and activity characteristics. The largest effects occurred for: - Chronic outdoor physical activity of moderate-to-vigorous intensity (g = 0.63, 95% CI [0.41, 0.85]) - Chronic physical activity with high cognitive demand (g = 0.53, 95% CI [0.15, 0.91]) - Acute bouts of moderate-intensity outdoor physical activity (g = 0.71, 95% CI [0.42, 0.99])
Why it matters
This meta-analysis demonstrates that environmental context and cognitive engagement substantially enhance the cognitive benefits of exercise beyond baseline physical exertion alone across the lifespan.
Limits
The abstract does not state the proportion of randomized controlled designs among included studies, specific cognitive domains tested, or risk of bias. Subgroup estimates for outdoor activity and high cognitive demand exhibit wide confidence intervals.
Cited by
- supports Physical activity, particularly vigorous physical activity, improves short-term cognitive function and long-term brain aging across the lifespan from young children to older adults.