Effects of Motor versus Cardiovascular Exercise Training on Children's Working Memory

Purpose The aim of this investigation was to examine the influence of different types of exercise exertion on primary school children's working memory (WM). Methods Participants (N = 71, 9.4 yr, 39 girls) were randomly assigned to a cardiovascular exercise (CE), a motor exercise (ME), or a control group (CON). They underwent a letter digit span task (WM) before and after an intervention period that involved 10 wk of an additional afterschool exercise regimen, which took place three times a week for 45 min. Students in the control group participated in assisted homework sessions. Results WM performance of the 9- to 10-yr-old children benefited from both the cardiovascular and the motor exercise programs, but not from the control condition. The increase in WM performance was significantly larger for children in the ME compared with the CE or CON. Conclusion These findings add to the knowledge base relating different types of exercise and WM. Besides the efficiency of cardiovascular exercise training, a special motor-demanding intervention seems to be a beneficial strategy to improve WM in preadolescent children.