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A primer on investigating the after effects of acute bouts of physical activity on cognition
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“Furthermore, exercise prescription is the key for dosing (Wasfy and Baggish, 2016; Pontifex et al., 2018) and for individualization of acute physical exercises and physical training (Lightfoot, 2008).”
From Dose-Response Matters! - A Perspective on the Exercise Prescription in Exercise-Cognition Research (2019) · cites this paper as Pontifex et al., 2018
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Hussey, E. K., Fontes, E. B., Ward, N., Westfall, D. R., Kao, S., Kramer, A. F., & Hillman, C. H. (2020) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm9051410 · Cited by 36
“Acute exercise—a single session of moderate- to high-intensity running, walking, or cycling—reveals promising results across a range of EF processes [1].”
BackgroundBrush, C. J., Burani, K., Schmidt, K. M., Santopetro, N. J., & Hajcak, G. (2021) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2021.103914 · Cited by 18
Pupillometry Reveals the Role of Arousal in a Postexercise Benefit to Executive Function
Ayala, N., & Heath, M. D. (2021) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci11081048 · Cited by 17
“A prominent mechanism associated with the benefit is an exercise-mediated change in arousal [5].”
BackgroundThe impact of isometric handgrip exercise and training on health‐related factors: A review
Yamada, Y., Spitz, R. W., Wong, V. H. Y., Bell, Z. W., Song, J. S., Abe, T., & Loenneke, J. P. (2022) · Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging · doi:10.1111/cpf.12741 · Cited by 17
“Studies within the area of acute exercise and cognition commonly adopt posttest only designs (Pontifex et al., 2019) due to this concern (Frith et al., 2018; Jaffery et al., 2018).”
BackgroundKolovelonis, A., & Γούδας, Μ. (2022) · European Physical Education Review · doi:10.1177/1356336x221135139 · Cited by 17
“intensity, duration, type) that maximize its effects on students’ cognitive development (Pontifex et al., 2019).”
BackgroundGutiérrez-Capote, A., Jiménez-Martínez, J., Madinabeitia, I., de Orbe-Moreno, M., Pesce, C., & Vélez, D. C. (2024) · International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology · doi:10.1080/1612197x.2023.2289552 · Cited by 23
Mancı, E., Herold, F., Özdalyan, F., Benli, M. D., Bozkurt, Ç., Gençtürk, U., Gebel, A., Güdücü, Ç., Günay, E., Bediz, C. Ş., et al. (2025) · Scandinavian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/sjop.13105 · Cited by 16
“…in a row presents a potential bias against observing subtle differences in cognitive performance (e.g., athletes vs. nonathletes) due to the increased likelihood that the participant's cognitive performance will approach some practice-related limits (Calamia et al. 2012; Pontifex et al. 2019).”
Self-citationde Andrade, M. O. C., Pournara, I., Pontifex, M. B., Venetsanou, F., Pesce, C., & Vazou, S. (2025) · International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology · doi:10.1080/1612197x.2025.2510251 · Cited by 19
“…superiority of physical activity interventions, future meta-analyses should consider the different approaches to computing cognitive test performance (Pontifex et al., 2019; Wade et al., 2020), as well as the particular characteristics of the intervention and comparison groups (Ziv et al., 2024).”
InfluentialSelf-citationChen, R., Wang, S., Fan, Y., Liu, X., Wang, J., Lv, Y., Wang, D., Wu, D., Cao, W., & Zou, Q. (2022) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhac254 · Cited by 17
Ando, S., Komiyama, T., Tanoue, Y., Sudo, M., Costello, J. T., Uehara, Y., & Higaki, Y. (2022) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2022.853150 · Cited by 16
Plaza‐Florido, A., Pérez‐Prieto, I., Molina‐García, P., Radom‐Aizik, S., Ortega, F. B., & Altmäe, S. (2022) · Frontiers in Pediatrics · doi:10.3389/fped.2022.917152 · Cited by 19
Ballester-Ferrer, J. A., Bonete-López, B., Roldán, A., Cervelló, E. M., & Pastor, D. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1057475 · Cited by 19
“Physical exercise has emerged as one of the most promising tools to benefit all aspects of executive function (Chang et al., 2012; Stillman et al., 2016; Oberste et al., 2019; Pontifex et al., 2019; Stillman et al., 2020).”
BackgroundInfluentialPositive effects of brisk walking and Tai Chi on cognitive function in older adults: An fNIRS study
Qi, L., Wang, G., Yang, Y.-L., Yang, S., Liu, L., & Zhang, J. (2023) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2023.114390 · Cited by 16
Mancı, E., Theobald, P., Toth, A. J., Campbell, M. J., DiFrancisco‐Donoghue, J., Gebel, A., Müller, N. G., Gronwald, T., & Herold, F. (2024) · BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine · doi:10.1136/bmjsem-2024-002243 · Cited by 17
“24 38 However, further well-designed studies on esports players are required to test this assumption empirically.”
InfluentialOrtín, N. U., Fernández, N., Vélez, D. C., Madinabeitia, I., & Alarcón, F. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17249325 · Cited by 19
“The acute effects of physical activity (PA) on cognitive performance at school age have been widely studied, finding improvements in young adults as well as in children and adolescents, especially those referred to cognitive control [1].”
BackgroundInfluentialAcute aerobic exercise to recover from mental exhaustion – a randomized controlled trial
Oberste, M., de Waal, P., Joisten, N., Walzik, D., Egbringhoff, M., Javelle, F., Bloch, W., & Zimmer, P. (2021) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113588 · Cited by 17
Wang, C., Baumgartner, N. W., Nagy, C., Fu, H., Yang, C., & Kao, S. (2022) · Psychology of sport and exercise · doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2022.102301 · Cited by 16
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“…colleagues (Budde et al., 2008) conducted the pretest and posttest of the attention task in different days, it may pose a potential threat to the interpretability of the observed findings because the individual day-to-day variation was not controlled (Pontifex et al., 2019; Kao et al., 2020, 2022).”
BackgroundMancı, E., Herold, F., Günay, E., Güdücü, Ç., Müller, N. G., & Bediz, C. Ş. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20064719 · Cited by 15
“However, as those cognitive tests are not frequently used in acute exercise-cognition studies [17], our findings complement and add new evidence to the literature.”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialEffects of acute aerobic and resistance exercise on episodic memory function
Loprinzi, P. D., Loenneke, J. P., & Storm, B. C. (2021) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1177/1747021821994576 · Cited by 16
“First, and as demonstrated above, it is an under-investigated memory outcome within the context of this topic; as illustrated elsewhere (Pontifex et al., 2019), studies evaluating the effects of acute exercise on cognition have predominately focused on inhibitorybased cognitive control as the outcome (see Figure 2 in…”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialJohnson, M. N., Maher, J. P., Meadows, C. C., Bittel, K. M., Hevel, D. J., & Drollette, E. S. (2022) · Psychology of sport and exercise · doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2022.102141 · Cited by 15
Acute exercise on memory function: open vs. closed skilled exercise
Cantrelle, J., Burnett, G. C., & Loprinzi, P. D. (2020) · Health Promotion Perspectives · doi:10.34172/hpp.2020.20 · Cited by 14
“Strengths of this study include the experimental design, study novelty, and relatively large sample for this type of experiment (see Figure 9 in Pontifex et al 32 ).”
Mou, H., Tian, S., Fang, Q., & Qiu, F. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.766679 · Cited by 15
Tarassova, O., Jiang, Y., Wallin, H., Jensen‐Urstad, M., Drca, N., Röja, J., Pontén, M., Katz, A., Nilsson, J., Ekblom, M., et al. (2025) · The Journal of Physiology · doi:10.1113/jp288409 · Cited by 13
Winneke, A. H., Hübner, L. A., Godde, B., & Voelcker‐Rehage, C. (2019) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm8091348 · Cited by 12
“See Pontifex and colleagues ([23] supplementary table) for a recent review that shows the paucity of ERP studies on the immediate effects (0–5 min after exercise cessation) of acute exercise on the inhibitory system.”
BackgroundLegrand, F. D., Silete, G., & Schiffler, F. (2020) · Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport · doi:10.1080/02701367.2019.1706713 · Cited by 14
“The beneficial effects of physical exercise on cognitive and mental health outcomes have been largely documented over the past years (Ekkekakis, 2019; Pontifex et al., 2019), and a range of potential mechanisms have been described (e.g., Craft, 2013; Pontifex et al., 2019).”
BackgroundCognitive and psychosocial effects of an acute sun salutation intervention among adults with stress
Phansikar, M., & Mullen, S. P. (2021) · Mental health and physical activity · doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2021.100431 · Cited by 14
The effects of an acute Tai Chi on emotional memory and prefrontal cortex activation: a fNIRS study
Wang, H., Guo, Y., Fan, H., Chen, Z., Liu, S., Zhao, L., & Shi, Y. (2025) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1520508 · Cited by 13
Zhang, Z., Zhu, W., Tao, Y., Fan, X., Herold, F., Mavilidi, M. F., Huang, Z., Yu, Q., Wang, P., Lubans, D. R., et al. (2026) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-025-10101-8 · Cited by 14
“Building on robust evidence that acute physical exercise can facilitate subsequent cognitive performance for a transient duration (Pontifex et al., 2019), strategically placing physical exercise immediately before instructional time may improve learning effi - ciency during subsequent in-class time…”
Chu, C., Kao, S., Hillman, C. H., Chen, F., Li, R., Ai, J., & Chang, Y. (2023) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.14393 · Cited by 12
Schmaderer, L. F., Meyer, M., Reer, R., & Schumacher, N. (2023) · European Journal of Sport Science · doi:10.1080/17461391.2023.2238699 · Cited by 16
“The test order remained equal for each participant to minimise possible in fl uence of physical activity on cognitive performance, which could appear by randomising test order (Pontifex et al., 2019).”
Bodensohn, L., Maurer, A., Daamen, M., Upadhyay, N., Werkhausen, J., Lohaus, M., Manunzio, U., Manunzio, C., Radbruch, A., Attenberger, U. I., et al. (2024) · Brain and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2024.106156 · Cited by 12
“While early research mainly assessed basic aspects of sensory and motor cognition or information processing speed, there is a recent shift to complex forms of cognition, especially executive functions (EF) (Pontifex et al., 2019).”
InfluentialThomas, F., Pixa, N. H., Berger, A., Cheng, M., Doppelmayr, M. M., & Steinberg, F. (2020) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.07.017 · Cited by 15
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The effects of acute exercise on driving and executive functions in healthy older adults
Lebeau, J.-C., Mason, J., Roque, N. A., & Tenenbaum, G. (2020) · International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology · doi:10.1080/1612197x.2020.1849353 · Cited by 11
“Consistent with meta-analytic results (Chang et al., 2012; Pontifex et al., 2019), exercise duration was set at 20 min to allow sufficient time interval for the exercise to elicit improvements in cognitive performance.”
MethodMou, H., Fang, Q., Tian, S., & Qiu, F. (2022) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.114012 · Cited by 12
Executive function during exercise is diminished by prolonged cognitive effort in men
Tsukamoto, H., Dora, K., Stacey, B. S., Tsumura, H., Murakami, Y., Marley, C. J., Bailey, D. M., & Hashimoto, T. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-26788-6 · Cited by 12
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Mobile EEG for the study of cognitive-motor interference during swimming?
Klapprott, M., & Debener, S. (2024) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2024.1466853 · Cited by 11
Yang, Z., Zhu, L., He, Q., Li, X., Zhang, J., & Tang, Y. (2024) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2024.114779 · Cited by 15
“In alignment with the experimental design suggested by Pontifex (2019) [15], the current study utilized a within-subjects crossover pretest-posttest design.”
Intense Cycling Exercise Improves Acute Cognitive Responses
Kunzler, M. R., & Carpes, F. P. (2020) · International Journal of Sports Medicine · doi:10.1055/a-1114-6170 · Cited by 11
The acute effects of continuous and intermittent cycling on executive function in children
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Walking effects on memory in children: Implications for individual differences in BMI
Drollette, E. S., & Hillman, C. H. (2020) · Mental health and physical activity · doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2020.100317 · Cited by 12
Drollette, E. S., & Meadows, C. C. (2022) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.14112 · Cited by 11
Outdoor Physical Activity: A Training Method for Learning in an Experiential and Innovative Way
Latino, F., Saraiello, E., & Tafuri, F. (2023) · Journal of Physical Education and Sport · doi:10.7752/jpes.2023.07225 · Cited by 11
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“Based on the reported beneficial effects of exercise (Pontifex et al., 2019) and rest (Lim et al.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialFrimpong, E., Mograss, M., Zvionow, T., Páez, A., Aubertin‐Leheudre, M., Bherer, L., Pepin, V., Robertson, E. M., & Dang‐Vu, T. T. (2023) · SLEEP · doi:10.1093/sleep/zsad119 · Cited by 13
Acute effects of mindful interval exercise on cognitive performance in a higher education setting
Kao, S., Baumgartner, N. W., Pritt, T., Wu, S., Schmitt, S. A., Ullrich-French, S. C., & Wang, C. (2022) · Psychology of sport and exercise · doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2022.102326 · Cited by 11
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McGowan, A. L., Ferguson, D. P., Gerde, H. K., Pfeiffer, K. A., & Pontifex, M. B. (2020) · Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports · doi:10.1111/sms.13727 · Cited by 10
Self-citationPhysically active learning in preschoolers: Improved self-regulation, comparable quantity estimation
McGowan, A. L., Gerde, H. K., Pfeiffer, K. A., & Pontifex, M. B. (2021) · Trends in Neuroscience and Education · doi:10.1016/j.tine.2021.100150 · Cited by 11
“For instance, acute bouts of physical activity improve attention [4] despite interfering with subsequent retrieval of novel information [25] and not interfering with memory recall 24-hours later [26].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialSelf-citationThomas, F., Steinberg, F., Pixa, N. H., Berger, A., Cheng, M., & Doppelmayr, M. M. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-87914-4 · Cited by 11
Effects of acute exercise intensity on source episodic memory and metamemory accuracy
Loprinzi, P. D., Rigdon, B., Javadi, A., & Kelemen, W. L. (2021) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1177/17470218211069856 · Cited by 10
“Importantly, as pointed out by Pontifex et al. (2019), it may be premature to make strong statements about the intensity-dependent findings on cognition given that the majority of studies have failed to provide sufficient details to determine the intensity of the activity.”
BackgroundMethodEffects of acute exercise on emotional memory
Loprinzi, P. D., Olafson, D., Scavuzzo, C. J., Lovorn, A., Mather, M., Frith, E., & Fujiwara, E. (2022) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699931.2022.2050890 · Cited by 10
“Unlike in Experiments 1 and 2, and as suggested elsewhere (Pontifex et al., 2019), an active control group (stretching) was employed in Experiment 3 in order to create a contact-control condition that more closely aligns with aspects of the exercise protocol (e.”
MethodPhysical and/or cognitive warm-up effects on first-person shooter video-games performances
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Acute high-intensity interval training improves motor skill acquisition
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“However, other researchers have shown that additional relevant variables include the type of research design, the type of PA employed, the type and timing of EF assessment tools, and the participant’s age and physical fitness [6].”
BackgroundPre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of and Experiences with Classroom Physical Activity
Bigelow, H., & Fenesi, B. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20021049 · Cited by 10
Working Memory in Overweight Boys during Physical Education Classes
Hawani, A., Chikha, A. B., Zoghlami, W., Souissi, M. A., Trabelsi, O., Mrayeh, M., & Muscella, A. (2023) · Children · doi:10.3390/children10050805 · Cited by 12
“Given that physical fitness is suggested as a key moderator of the exercise-cognition relationship [24,31], small-sided games-based exercises, such as Football or Ultimate Frisbee in physical education classes, can still be a valid mode of activity for children, given the ease of access to the equipment needed [32].”
BackgroundWatarai, M., Hagiwara, K., Mochizuki, Y., Chen, C., Mizumoto, T., Kawashima, C., Koga, T., Okabe, E., & Nakagawa, S. (2023) · Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-023-01117-0 · Cited by 11
“Although a crossover pretest posttest design provides the most rigorous evidence (Pontifex et al., 2019), it requires subjects to conduct the test four times, which not only reinforces the practice effect but also poses a greater burden to subjects.”
BackgroundActivity patterns of primary school children during participation in The Daily Mile
Hatch, L. M., Williams, R. A., Dring, K. J., Sunderland, C. D., Nevill, M. E., & Cooper, S. B. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-86631-2 · Cited by 9
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“The underlying mechanism could depend on exercise-induced modulation of the locus coeruleus (LC)-NE system [17].”
Carbine, K. A., LeCheminant, J. D., Kelley, T. A., Kapila-Ramirez, A., Hill, K. R., Masterson, T. D., Christensen, E., & Larson, M. J. (2024) · Appetite · doi:10.1016/j.appet.2024.107514 · Cited by 8
“…to an increase in the concentration, absorption, or regulation of catecholamines, leading to improvements in cognition after exercise (Cooper, 1973; Pontifex et al., 2019) and potentially diet regulation, as norepinephrine activates the alpha(1)-adrenoceptors in the hypothalamic paraventricular…”
BackgroundInfluentialHsieh, S., McGowan, A. L., Chandler, M. C., & Pontifex, M. B. (2024) · International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology · doi:10.1080/1612197x.2024.2365374 · Cited by 9
“This omission makes it challenging to account for day-to-day variations in cognitive performance and limits the interpretation of “ direction of change ” in outcome measures induced by aerobic exercise (Pontifex et al., 2019).”
InfluentialSelf-citationAly, M., Alzahrani, T. M., Fakehy, M., Abass, M., & Mohamed, S. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1460684 · Cited by 8
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A single bout of passive exercise mitigates a mental fatigue-induced inhibitory control deficit
Ahn, J., Tari, B., Morava, A., Harry Prapavessis, A., & Heath, M. D. (2023) · Experimental Brain Research · doi:10.1007/s00221-023-06640-7 · Cited by 8
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The Impact of Acute Exercise Timing on Memory Interference
Crawford, L. K., Caplan, J. B., & Loprinzi, P. D. (2021) · Perceptual and Motor Skills · doi:10.1177/0031512521993706 · Cited by 8
“As thoroughly discussed elsewhere (Pontifex et al., 2019), various mechanisms may influence these exercise-induced effects, such as activation of the norepinephrine system, altered cerebral blood flow, and changes in catecholamines and neurotrophic factors.”
Ballester-Ferrer, J. A., Roldán, A., Cervelló, E. M., & Pastor, D. (2022) · Biology · doi:10.3390/biology11101541 · Cited by 12
Lv, Y., Dong, X., Sun, T., Jiang, S., Gao, Y., Liang, J., Hu, S., Yu, H., & Hou, X. (2024) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-024-81538-0 · Cited by 8
Jung, M. (2025) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2025.115765 · Cited by 7
Effects of acute slackline exercise on executive function in college students
Wen, C.-T., Chu, C.-L., Chen, H., Chueh, T., Lin, C., Wu, S., Hsu, W.-C., Huang, C., & Hung, T. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1092804 · Cited by 9
“Given that the vast majority of the extant literature has focused on aerobic exercise or resistance exercise and inhibitory control (Pontifex et al., 2019), the present findings go a step further in understanding the effectiveness of acute bouts of coordination exercise on executive function in young adults.”
BackgroundThe impact of physical exercise on the consolidation of fear extinction memories
Jentsch, V. L., Wolf, O. T., Otto, T., & Merz, C. J. (2023) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.14373 · Cited by 8
“…the control intervention did not elicit a strong affective response and thus served as an adequate and commonly used nonarousing control condition (Pontifex et al., 2019), future researchers should consider presenting the videos during both interventions or to employ an active control condition…”
BackgroundMethodKhatri, R. A., Baumgartner, N. W., Noh, K., Ullrich-French, S. C., Schmitt, S. A., Wang, C., & Kao, S. (2024) · Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports · doi:10.1111/sms.14558 · Cited by 7
“…general time-related improvements in performance across EF domains and intervention conditions were consistent with cognitive enhancements commonly observed during the 1-h recovery period following exercise, 24,43 given that all cognitive tasks were completed at about 30 min after exercise ceased.”
BackgroundBody fat predictive of acute effects of exercise on prefrontal hemodynamics and speed
Crum, J. E., II, Ronca, F., Herbert, G., Carmona, E., Jones, I. L., Hakim, U., Hamer, M., Hirsch, J., Hamilton, A. F. D. C., Tachtsidis, I., et al. (2024) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108805 · Cited by 8
“Research linking physical movement and exertion with cognition has gained increasing interest, with the last two decades seeing a marked increase in the frequency of investigations adopting cognitive neuroscientific methods (e.g., Herold et al., 2020a,b, 2021; see Pontifex et al., 2019, for review).”
Lack of effects of acute exercise intensity on mnemonic discrimination
Loprinzi, P. D., & Caplan, J. B. (2024) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1177/17470218241238881 · Cited by 9
“This was done to allow for a time-efficient pretest–posttest design, which is a stronger causal design than a posttest-only design (Pontifex et al., 2019).”
Pesce, C., & Tocci, N. (2024) · Progress in brain research · doi:10.1016/bs.pbr.2024.05.006 · Cited by 8
McCartney, D., Desbrow, B., & Irwin, C. G. (2020) · Journal of Sports Sciences · doi:10.1080/02640414.2020.1809976 · Cited by 7
Möller, F. N., Hoffmann, U., Vogt, T., & Steinberg, F. (2021) · Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society · doi:10.1177/00187208211032868 · Cited by 9
Effects of Acute High-Intensity Interval Training on Information Processing Speed
Kendall, B. J., Siekirk, N. J., & Lai, Q. (2021) · The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research · doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000004029 · Cited by 7
“that supported that exercise-induced improvements in cognitive abilities seem to peak around 15 minutes (28).”
BackgroundHeiland, E. G., Kjellenberg, K., Tarassova, O., Fernström, M., Nyberg, G., Ekblom, M., Helgadóttir, B., & Ekblom, Ö. B. (2022) · Trials · doi:10.1186/s13063-021-05972-5 · Cited by 8
“it to meet task goals [15], but has not been often studied in relation to physical activity nor in younger populations [2].”
BackgroundLiu, J., Taneepanichskul, S., Zhang, B., & Xenos, P. S. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20021415 · Cited by 9
“prominent 41% of the published studies [14].”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialArenas, D., Bodi-Torralba, M., Oliver, A., Cantallops, J., Ponseti, F. J., Palou, P., Collado, J. A., Flórez, I., Galvez-Pol, A., Terrasa, J. L., et al. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1451731 · Cited by 11
Kuang, J., Lloyd, K. M., Ligeza, T. S., Bashir, N., Martin, H., Shanmugam, R., Pickerill, L., Liang, S., Syed, T., Tewell, P., et al. (2025) · Mental health and physical activity · doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2025.100671 · Cited by 6
Acute Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Risky Decision Making and Reward Processing in Young Adults
Ludyga, S., Schwarz, A., Leuenberger, R., Colombo, S., Kummer, R., & Gerber, M. (2025) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.70029 · Cited by 6
“The number of studies investigating acute effects of exercise on cognitive performance is steadily increasing, and the majority of previous research has focused on executive function in young adults (Pontifex et al. 2019).”
Fochesatto, C. F., Cristi‐Montero, C., Bandeira, P. F. R., Brand, C., Dias, A. F., Bandeira, D. R., Mota, J. A. P. S., Gaya, A. C. A., & Gaya, A. R. (2023) · Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness · doi:10.1016/j.jesf.2023.10.001 · Cited by 8
Beyond FITTPreprint
Herold, F., Zou, L., Theobald, P., Manser, P., Falck, R. S., Yu, Q., Liu-Ambrose, T. Y. L., Hillman, C. H., Kramer, A. F., Erickson, K. I., et al. (2024) · doi:10.51224/srxiv.411 · Cited by 6
Self-citationPindus, D. M., Lloyd, K. M., Ligeza, T. S., Askow, A. T., McKenna, C., Bashir, N., Martin, H., Quiroz, F. B., Herrera, B. M., Cannavale, C., et al. (2025) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2025.112519 · Cited by 6
“Cumulative bout duration (17.5 min) was based on the positive effects of a single MPA bout lasting at least 16 min on executive functions (Pontifex et al., 2019).”
InfluentialMartins, R., Ludyga, S., Hanke, M., Herold, F., Crotti, M., Looser, V. N., Hill, M. W., & Duncan, M. J. (2025) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2025.115887 · Cited by 5
Experience sampling method studies in physical activity research: the relevance of causal reasoning
Poppe, L., Paepe, A. L. D., Deforche, B. I., Dyck, D. V., Loeys, T., & Cauwenberg, J. V. (2025) · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity · doi:10.1186/s12966-025-01723-w · Cited by 7
“Lab studies examining the effect of PA on cognition have typically focused on the effect of different PA intensities and durations on cognitive performance [21].”
Dixon, S., Tempest, G. D., Hettinga, F. J., Khudair, M., & McCullogh, N. (2025) · Mental health and physical activity · doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2025.100685 · Cited by 8
“Utilising within-subjects designs can help to reduce the variability between participants in studies (Pontifex et al., 2019).”
Influential
Metadata
- Authors
- Pontifex, M. B., McGowan, A. L., Chandler, M. C., Gwizdala, K. L., Parks, A. C., Fenn, K., & Kamijo, K.
- Affiliations
- Michigan State University (US)
- University of Tsukuba (JP)
- Corresponding author
- Pontifex, Matthew B.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychology of Sport and Exercise
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-01
- Volume
- 40
- Pages
- 1-22
- ISSN
- 1469-0292 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2889924106
- Cited by
- 339
- References
- 174
- Citations by year
- 2026: 40 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 59 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 24
- FWCI
- 16.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychology of sport and exercise (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- acute exercise, single bout exercise, exercise and cognition, dose-response relationship, moderators, experimental design, cognitive assessment, reporting transparency, research methodology
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