None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The current study is a randomised controlled trial which aims to investigate whether an intervention of chronic exercise can have a beneficial effect on sedentary, healthy young adults' cognitive function and mood. The environmental conditions of the exercise sessions will also be investigated to assess whether this can have any effects on the outcomes. Participants will be asked to come into the laboratory for two (approx. 50 min - 1 hour) sessions which will assess mood, cognition and fitness. These sessions will be separated by a six-week period during which participants will either be asked to maintain their normal exercise routine or to run (or walk vigorously or jog) at least three times a week for 30 minutes at a time. We hypothesise that improvements will be seen in cognitive function and mood following a period of chronic exercise that exceed any seen in the control group. We also expect that increases in fitness should be seen in the exercise group that correlate with any increases in cognition and mood scores. Finally, it is hypothesised that the environmental conditions will affect the cognitive and mood scores of the exercise group such that outdoor conditions will be associated with greater benefits.
Interventions
Participants will be asked to attend the laboratory for two testing sessions (approximately 50 minutes - 1 hour) which will assess cognitive function, mood and fitness. Participants recruited will be sedentary (i.e., not exercising more than twice a week). A 3:1 ratio assignment to either the exercise or control group will be used. Those assigned to the exercise group will be asked to complete a six-week running regime which has been adapted from the protocol used in Stroth et al., (2009). The e
Participants will be asked to attend the laboratory for two testing sessions (approximately 50 minutes - 1 hour) which will assess cognitive function, mood and fitness. Participants recruited will be sedentary (i.e., not exercising more than twice a week). A 3:1 ratio assignment to either the exercise or control group will be used. Those assigned to the exercise group will be asked to complete a six-week running regime which has been adapted from the protocol used in Stroth et al., (2009). The exercise group will be asked to run (or walk vigorously or jog if they are unable to run at first) at least 3 times a week for a period of 30 minutes at a time. Participants will be advised that they must warm up and cool down appropriately when completing their running session and that they should only engage in exercise if it is safe for them to do so (e.g., not running if they feel unwell and being aware of their surroundings when running). During the exercise session, participants should ensure that their breathing and heart rate increases. The control group will be asked to maintain their normal routine, with no additional exercise. Both groups will be asked to keep an exercise diary to record exercise sessions. This diary asks for details of the environmental conditions of the exercise as well as the dates and time. The experimental group will be required to record the details of their regime and any additional exercise they take part in during the week whereas the control group will just be asked to record any details of exercise that they take part in during the week. The diary will be sent to them at the beginning of each week and participants will be asked to send it back at the end of the week. Following the completion of the six-week period, participants will be asked to attend the second testing session. Participants will be recruited until 23/04/2021 such that the final data collection date will be 04/06/2021. However, if 80 participants (control = 20, runners = 60) are not completed in this time the trial will continue. In this case, recruitment will continue until 16/07/2021 and the final data collection date will be 27/08/2021. References Stroth, S., Hille, K., Spitzer, M., & Reinhardt, R. (2009). Aerobic endurance exercise benefits memory and affect in young adults. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 19(2), 223-243. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602010802091183
Sponsors
Liana Machado
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 30 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Between the ages of 18-30 years Normal or corrected-to-normal vision Currently sedentary (e.g., not exercising more than twice a week) Physically capable of running or jogging
Exclusion criteria
Colour blindness
Outcome results
None listed