Contribution of underlying processes to improved visuospatial working memory associated with physical activity
Background Working memory is critical for various cognitive processes and can be separated into two stages: short-term memory storage and manipulation processing. Although previous studies have demonstrated that increased physical activity (PA) improves working memory and that males outperform femal...
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PeerJ Inc.
2017-06-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/3430.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797424320595623936 |
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| author | Qingchun Ji Yingying Wang Wei Guo Chenglin Zhou |
| author_facet | Qingchun Ji Yingying Wang Wei Guo Chenglin Zhou |
| author_sort | Qingchun Ji |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Working memory is critical for various cognitive processes and can be separated into two stages: short-term memory storage and manipulation processing. Although previous studies have demonstrated that increased physical activity (PA) improves working memory and that males outperform females on visuospatial working memory tasks, few studies have determined the contribution of the two underlying stages to the visuospatial working memory improvement associated with PA. Thus, the aims of the present study were to verify the relationship between physical activity and visuospatial working memory, determine whether one or both stages were affected by PA, and investigate any sex differences. Methods A total of 56 undergraduate students were recruited for this study. Their scores on the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) were used to separate them into either a lower PA (n = 26; IPAQ score ≤3,000 metabolic equivalent [MET]-min/week) or higher PA (n = 30; IPAQ score >3,000 MET-min/week) group. Participants were required to complete three tasks: a visuospatial working memory task, a task that examines the short-term memory storage stage, and a mental rotation task that examines the active manipulation stage. Results Participants in the higher PA group maintained similar accuracy but displayed significantly faster reaction times (RT) than those in the lower PA group on the visuospatial working memory and manipulation tasks. By contrast, no difference was observed between groups on the short-term memory storage task. In addition, no effects of sex were detected. Discussion Our results confirm that PA was positively to visuospatial working memory and that this positive relationship was associated with more rapid cognitive processing during the manipulation stage, with little or no relationship between PA and the memory storage stage of visuospatial working memory. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:00:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6250f003ae0c40cf8f7afbedf4f7577d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:00:31Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-6250f003ae0c40cf8f7afbedf4f7577d2023-12-03T00:46:42ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592017-06-015e343010.7717/peerj.3430Contribution of underlying processes to improved visuospatial working memory associated with physical activityQingchun Ji0Yingying Wang1Wei Guo2Chenglin Zhou3Department of Sport Psychology, School of Sport Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, Asia, ChinaDepartment of Sport Psychology, School of Sport Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, Asia, ChinaDepartment of Sport Psychology, School of Sport Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, Asia, ChinaDepartment of Sport Psychology, School of Sport Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, Asia, ChinaBackground Working memory is critical for various cognitive processes and can be separated into two stages: short-term memory storage and manipulation processing. Although previous studies have demonstrated that increased physical activity (PA) improves working memory and that males outperform females on visuospatial working memory tasks, few studies have determined the contribution of the two underlying stages to the visuospatial working memory improvement associated with PA. Thus, the aims of the present study were to verify the relationship between physical activity and visuospatial working memory, determine whether one or both stages were affected by PA, and investigate any sex differences. Methods A total of 56 undergraduate students were recruited for this study. Their scores on the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) were used to separate them into either a lower PA (n = 26; IPAQ score ≤3,000 metabolic equivalent [MET]-min/week) or higher PA (n = 30; IPAQ score >3,000 MET-min/week) group. Participants were required to complete three tasks: a visuospatial working memory task, a task that examines the short-term memory storage stage, and a mental rotation task that examines the active manipulation stage. Results Participants in the higher PA group maintained similar accuracy but displayed significantly faster reaction times (RT) than those in the lower PA group on the visuospatial working memory and manipulation tasks. By contrast, no difference was observed between groups on the short-term memory storage task. In addition, no effects of sex were detected. Discussion Our results confirm that PA was positively to visuospatial working memory and that this positive relationship was associated with more rapid cognitive processing during the manipulation stage, with little or no relationship between PA and the memory storage stage of visuospatial working memory.https://peerj.com/articles/3430.pdfPhysical activityVisuospatial working memoryStorageManipulationSex difference |
| spellingShingle | Qingchun Ji Yingying Wang Wei Guo Chenglin Zhou Contribution of underlying processes to improved visuospatial working memory associated with physical activity PeerJ Physical activity Visuospatial working memory Storage Manipulation Sex difference |
| title | Contribution of underlying processes to improved visuospatial working memory associated with physical activity |
| title_full | Contribution of underlying processes to improved visuospatial working memory associated with physical activity |
| title_fullStr | Contribution of underlying processes to improved visuospatial working memory associated with physical activity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Contribution of underlying processes to improved visuospatial working memory associated with physical activity |
| title_short | Contribution of underlying processes to improved visuospatial working memory associated with physical activity |
| title_sort | contribution of underlying processes to improved visuospatial working memory associated with physical activity |
| topic | Physical activity Visuospatial working memory Storage Manipulation Sex difference |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/3430.pdf |
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