Boosting Executive Function With Real-class Exercise

Shenzhen University

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Executive Functions (EF)

Treatments: Behavioral: 5-minute physical exercise; Behavioral: 10-minute physical exercise; Behavioral: Mentally active sitting

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07231536

ShenzhenURealClassExercise

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this study is to examine the effects of acute pre-class physical exercise on executive function in real classroom settings. The main question it aims to answer is, "Does acute pre-class exercise enhance executive function compared to sedentary conditions?" Participants were students from primary school assigned by class to engage in one of several pre-class conditions: mentally passive sitting, mentally active sitting, 5-minute physical exercise, or 10-minute physical exercise. A cluster-randomized trial design was used to ensure ecological validity in authentic classroom environments. Cognitive tasks measuring inhibitory control were administered at baseline and pre-/post-class.

The results indicate that pre-class exercise leads to greater improvements in inhibitory control than sedentary conditions, suggesting that integrating brief exercise sessions before lessons may be an effective strategy to optimize learning in educational contexts.

Enrollment: 240 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 9 to 13 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• right-handed, had normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity, and normal color vision

Exclusion criteria

• reported a history of cardiovascular, metabolic, gastrointestinal, neurological, or psychiatric disorders or conditions requiring medical attention.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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240 participants in 4 patient groups

mentally passive sedentary behavior

No Intervention group

mentally active sedentary behavior

Active Comparator group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mentally active sitting

5-minute physical exercise

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: 5-minute physical exercise

10-minute physical exercise

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: 10-minute physical exercise