Spending more time sedentary 1 to 2 hours after encoding is associated with better long-term memory retention, implying physical activity in that window is detrimental¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2016 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Individuals who spent more time sedentary 0:56:20 to 1:51:20 following encoding exhibited a greater proportion of items maintained across the 12-hour retention interval. → Pontifex 2016

Evidence¶

Pontifex 2016¶

Pontifex, M. B., Gwizdala, K. L., Parks, A. C., Pfeiffer, K. A. & Fenn, K. M. (2016). The Association between Physical Activity During the Day and Long-Term Memory Stability. Scientific Reports 6, 38148. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep38148

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Data-driven sliding 20-minute-window regression across 9 hours post-encoding, controlling for Age, Sex, and Aerobic Fitness, identified one critical sedentary window; more sedentary time there predicted "greater long-term memory" (β = 0.27, p < 0.001).

"Individuals who spent more time sedentary 0:56:20 to 1:51:20 following the first session exhibited greater long-term memory as indexed by a greater proportion of items maintained between session 1 and session 2 (β = 0.27, t (87) = 3.5, p < 0.001; see Fig. 2, Table 3)"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Greater aerobic fitness is associated with more stable long-term memory retention over 12 hours in young adults — related
• A combined model of demographics, aerobic fitness, and the two critical activity windows accounts for over 30% of variance in long-term memory retention — related
• Memory recall declines over the 12-hour retention interval between encoding and retrieval — related
• Physical activity in the hour before memory retrieval is associated with superior memory retention, while sedentary time in that window is negatively associated — related
• Total percentage of time spent sedentary or in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during the day is unrelated to long-term memory retention in young adults — related
• The timing of acute exercise relative to learning modulates memory consolidation — related
• Exercise performed four hours, but not immediately, after encoding enhances 48-hour retention of picture-location associations and hippocampal pattern similarity — reports the opposite
• TCT-DP creativity scores increase with age group, and adolescents are the most sedentary — related