Peer-reviewed article
Effects of single bout exercise with different cognitive demands on inhibitory control in elementary school children
Chen Chang, Chiung-Ling Chu, Yi-Lin Kuo, Ting‐Yu Chueh, Tsung‐Min Hung ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This study tested whether a single session of exercise with high or low thinking demands changes inhibitory control (the ability to suppress distracting responses) in 26 children averaging 11.8 years old. Each child did three conditions in random order: high cognitively demanding exercise, low cognitively demanding exercise, and an active control. Reaction time and accuracy on a Flanker task did not differ between conditions. The reduction in the Flanker effect was larger after the active control than after low-demand exercise. The authors conclude that more cognitively demanding exercise did not give greater benefits than less demanding exercise in this protocol.
Key points
- Twenty-six children (mean age 11.8, SD 0.5) completed all three conditions in a randomized crossover design.
- Reaction time and accuracy did not differ across exercise conditions (all p > 0.05).
- The reduction in Flanker effect was greater after active control than after low cognitively demanding exercise (p = 0.04, d = -0.81).
- Exploratory distributional analyses (conditional accuracy functions, delta plots) showed no significant condition differences and are described as hypothesis-generating.
- Physical intensity was higher than intended, which may have affected the results.
Limitations
The sample was small (26 children) and the effects were measured only after a single session, so lasting effects are unknown. The abstract does not describe the setting in detail, and the exercise intensity was higher than intended, which may have affected the results.
Abstract
Introduction Inhibitory control is a core component of executive function that develops substantially during childhood. Although cognitively demanding exercise has been proposed to enhance inhibitory control, findings regarding the effects of varying cognitive demand remain inconsistent. This study examined the acute effects of exercises with different cognitive demands on inhibitory control in children. Methods Twenty-six children (Mage = 11.8, SD = 0.5) completed three exercise conditions in a randomized crossover design: high cognitively demanding exercise (HE), low cognitively demanding exercise (LE), and active control (AC). Inhibitory control was assessed using the Flanker task. Change scores in reaction time, accuracy, and Flanker effect were analyzed, and exploratory distributional analyses were conducted using conditional accuracy functions and delta plots. Results Reaction time and accuracy did not differ across exercise conditions (all p > 0.05). However, the reduction in Flanker effect was greater following AC than LE ( p = 0.04, d = −0.81). No statistically significant condition-related differences were detected in the exploratory distributional indices (all p > 0.05); these analyses should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating. Discussion Overall, these findings suggest that exercises with higher cognitive demand may not yield greater benefits to inhibitory control than lower-demanding exercises under the higher-than-intended physical intensity elicited in the present protocol. Future studies should consider children’s limited physical and cognitive resources when designing interventions to optimize the potential synergistic effects of cognitively demanding exercise.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- A single bout of high cognitively demanding exercise or low cognitively demanding exercise, compared with an active control.
- Population
- 26 elementary school children, mean age 11.8 years (SD 0.5), Taiwan (country hint)
Key finding
Reaction time and accuracy did not differ across conditions (all p > 0.05).
Chang et al. · OpenAlex - Early Childhood · 7 Oct 2026