B – 84 Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Cognitive Flexibility in College-Age Adults

Abstract Objective Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) has been associated with better cognitive performance and decreased risk for neurocognitive disorders, but the extent to which CRF contributes to cognitive functioning in young adulthood is unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between CRF and cognitive performance in an undergraduate student population. Method Data was previously collected as part of the Middle Age: Cognition, Activity and Health (MiCAH) study at the University of Maine. Physical activity was assigned a metabolic equivalent value, and a proxy measure of CRF was calculated based on self-report data. Participants completed gold-standard neuropsychological measures and cognitive flexibility tasks from the National Institute of Health (NIH) Toolbox. A total of 145 participants aged 18-24 were included in the final analysis, with a mean (SD) age of 18.97 (1.61) and educational level of 11.87 (3.05) years. A series of hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to identify cognitive variables associated with CRF. Results Minutes of cardiovascular exercise (β=.287, p=.003), and scores on the CRF proxy measure (β =.209, p=.030) were significant predictors of performance on the NIH Toolbox List Sorting Working Memory Test in the regression model. CRF did not significantly predict other cognitive variables analyzed. Conclusion The results suggest that CRF may uniquely impact working memory early in adulthood, even if effects are not yet observable in other cognitive domains. These findings contribute to the current understanding of CRF and cognition in young adults and highlight the importance of early intervention on modifiable risk factors to improve cognitive outcomes later in adulthood.