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Acute Effects of Resistance Exercise on Cognitive Function in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review with Multilevel Meta-Analysis

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Abstract

Background

Recent research has revealed a beneficial impact of chronic resistance exercise (RE) on brain function. However, it is unclear as to whether RE is also effective in an acute setting.

Objective

To investigate the immediate effects of a single RE session on cognitive performance in healthy adults.

Methods

A multilevel meta-analysis with random effects meta-regression model was used to pool the standardized mean differences (SMD) between RE and no-exercise (NEX) as well as between RE and aerobic exercise (AE). In addition to global cognitive function, effects on reported sub-domains (inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory, attention) were examined.

Results

Twelve trials with fair methodological quality (PEDro scale) were identified. Compared to NEX, RE had a positive effect on global cognition (SMD: 0.56, 95% CI 0.22–0.90, p = 0.004), but was not superior to AE (SMD: − 0.10, 95% CI 0.01 to − 0.20, p = 0.06). Regarding cognitive sub-domains, RE, compared to NEX, improved inhibitory control (SMD: 0.73, 95% CI 0.21–1.26, p = 0.01) and cognitive flexibility (SMD: 0.36, 95% CI 0.17–0.55, p  = 0.004). In contrast, working memory (SMD: 0.35, 95% CI − 0.05 to 0.75, p  = 0.07) and attention (SMD: 0.79, 95% CI − 0.42 to 2.00, p = 0.16) remained unaffected. No significant differences in sub-domains were found between RE and AE (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

RE appears to be an appropriate method to immediately enhance cognitive function in healthy adults. Further studies clearly elucidating the impact of effect modifiers such as age, training intensity, or training duration are warranted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sports Medicine, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

    Jan Wilke, Florian Giesche, Kristina Klier, Lutz Vogt & Winfried Banzer

  2. Institute of Biostatistics and Mathematical Modeling, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

    Eva Herrmann

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  1. Jan Wilke
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Correspondence to Jan Wilke.

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Jan Wilke, Florian Giesche, Kristina Klier, Lutz Vogt, Eva Herrmann, and Winfried Banzer declare that they have no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this review.

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Wilke, J., Giesche, F., Klier, K. et al. Acute Effects of Resistance Exercise on Cognitive Function in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review with Multilevel Meta-Analysis. Sports Med 49, 905–916 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01085-x

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