Test performance improves when children can exercise briefly beforehand, UNCG researchers find

(Press-News.org) A new study from UNC Greensboro (UNCG) researchers suggests giving children just nine minutes to engage in high-intensity interval exercise can boost their academic performance.  

“In the classroom, you have teachers that say, ‘Let’s take a movement break to get you focused again,’” said lead author and UNCG Assistant Professor Eric Drollette, Ph.D.. “We know that’s the case anecdotally in the classroom, but we hadn’t put the science to it.”  

Investigating the science behind this classroom wisdom, the researchers created a short sequence of exercises that can be completed in one place, including high knees, jumping jacks, lunges and air squats. Children aged 9-12 years performed each exercise for 30 seconds followed by 30 seconds of rest.  

Their findings, published in Psychology of Sport & Exercise, indicate that when the same 25 students engaged in high-intensity interval exercise, they scored significantly higher on a standardized test measuring verbal comprehension compared to when they were seated before the test.  

“This research provides us with valuable insights into the potential for a single short period of exercise to benefit children's cognitive performance,” said co-author and Julia Taylor Morton Distinguished Professor Jennifer Etnier, Ph.D. “These findings may have important implications for teachers who are incorporating movement breaks into their classrooms and who might then see benefits to their students' academic performance.” 

This study is especially timely, as recess time is reported to have declined in schools. At the same time, teachers in about 10% of elementary schools are expected to give students regular, short movement breaks. This study provides a blueprint for how teachers can utilize these breaks to improve cognitive performance.  

Two unique aspects of this study are that UNCG researchers tested a shorter duration and more practical type of exercise for a classroom setting compared to past studies. 

“With earlier studies, we did 20 minutes of exercise on a treadmill – equipment not found in the classroom. A lot of studies have followed up like that,” Drollette said. “In this study, we wanted to replicate what could possibly be done in a classroom.” 

The researchers were interested in both children’s academic achievement and what was occurring in their brains after acute exercise. To this end, they examined a type of brain neuroelectrical activity, error-related negativity (ERN), that is observed when people make a mistake. Drollette said high ERN amplitude is associated with mental distraction with greater fixation on the error, reducing a child’s focus and performance. 

In addition to the high-intensity interval exercise and the seated rest, children also performed moderate-intensity cycling on a third day of testing. After each session, they completed a cognitive test while wearing an electroencephalogram, or EEG cap, that could measure the magnitude of their ERN response after a mistake.  

“With interval exercise, we actually see this decrease in this error-related response,” Drollette said. “This can be beneficial because it means that while a person made an error, the error itself is less salient thus they are able to effectively respond to the error or mistake in a mentally healthy way.” 

Drollette hopes to build on these findings in future studies to investigate how this error response could be connected to a child’s overall mental health and their behavior, including exercise.    

“Physical education and physical activity are good for our rising generation,” Drollette said. “It’s good for mental health. It’s good for brain health. It’s good for academic achievement.” 

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