Physical Activity Enhances Children's Memory More Than Adults

Recent meta-analyses report that physical activity has a small but consistent effect on long-term episodic memory. However, inconsistent methodological designs across the literature lead to significant variation across primary study findings. By classifying experiments based on intervention timing and age, researchers can elucidate the nuances of the relationship between physical activity and long-term memory and identify the most beneficial interventions. PURPOSE: To evaluate the relationship between physical activity and long-term episodic memory in adults and children using meta-analytic techniques. METHODS: Computerized searches of online databases identified experiments measuring the effects of physical activity on long-term episodic memory in humans. Manuscripts written in English were included if they included a typically active control group, analyzed long-term memory using free recall, cued recall, or recognition tests, and used a physical activity intervention with gross motor movements. Experiments were excluded if their sample included an atypical population or children under the age of 3 years old. RESULTS: 42 articles on adults and 14 articles on children were analyzed. In children, physical activity benefited long-term free recall (Cohen’s d = 0.77) and cued recall (d = 0.86) but not recognition memory, regardless of the intervention’s timing. In adults, physical activity before encoding benefitted free recall (d = 0.4) and cued recall (d = 0.08) but not recognition memory. Adult memory was not impacted by physical activity during encoding, but physical activity after encoding benefited free recall (d = 0.19), cued recall (d = 0.14), and recognition memory (d = 0.33). CONCLUSIONS: The effect of physical activity on children's long-term episodic memory is greater than on adult memory. Additionally, while the timing of physical activity does not impact children's memory benefits from physical activity, the mnemonic effects on adults may be more nuanced. Long-term memory analyses using free recall tests and cued recall tests identify more mnemonic effects of physical activity than recognition memory tests. As most research on this topic focuses on adults, future studies should focus on children and evaluate why the effects of physical activity are more prominent in this population.